Skylanders Academy: New Horizon
by andresponceb2002
Summary: Just as Peace was within reach for the Skylands, a new threat arrises! New adventures, new chalenges and a new ultimate evil will keep the Skylanders pretty ocupied on their newest adventure yet! Join Spyro and the Skylanders as they throw down with thier newest foes, The dreadful Knights of Solitude! (rated T for violence)
1. Chapter 1

**Skylanders Academy: New Horizon**

by andresponceb2002

 **Chapter 1) Unexpected Comeback**

The sky was dyed a beautiful sunset orange. Clouds passed lazily nearby as the wind pushed gently against Spyro´s face and Wings as he flew high above the Skylands beside Master Eon's ethereal form. The dragon had recently departed from Skylander Academy and said his goodbyes to his friends after a long life of fighting evil together under Master Eon. But now, Spyro was on his way to find his long lost purple dragon ancestors, his family, the which he had long thought dead. But now, with the help of Master Eon, he would be able to find them.

"Soooo" The young dragon began. "where to Master Eon?"

"Oh don't get ahead of yourself young Skylander!" Master Eon replied as his glowing form followed Spyro closely. "Before we depart to find your dragon kind we must be properly equipped, for the journey is long, and all essentials must be accounted for!"

"Oh c'mon! You´re a ghost! You don't have any essentials!" Spyro complined.

"Preposterous!" Eon exclaimed undignified. "Ethereal or not, my beard still needs proper grooming! Aaand besides, since I,m the one who knows where we are going, I'm afraid you won't be having any say in the matter!" the Portal Master boasted triumphantly.

"Urgh, fine!" Spyro groaned. "But let's make it quick! This is my family we´re talking about." He said.

The young dragon had never seen his family in all his life. The mere thought of finding them, of knowing they were out there somewhere; it only made him more anxious to go and find them.

"Alright, alright" Eon conceded. "We only need to make one quick stop to get a Beard Spray for Men, Beard Maintenance Kit. It has all we need, _and_ they are on sale!" Eon said gleefully, putting his arms in the air as Spyro rolled his eyes and chuckled at the old Portal Master´s antics.

Suddenly a strong wind blew and the sound of thunder roared in the distance. A storm had suddenly appeared in the horizon.

"Whoa, what's going on?" Spyro asked Eon as he was getting used to flying in the new, harsher wind. Storm clouds had seemed to brew spontaneously.

"Spyro." Master Eon called. "Be cautious, I sense an evil presence nearby." He warned

Spyro was now on guard, as dark grey clouds had blocked out the previously gorgeous sunrise, leaving the young dragon and his tutor in a grim, grey setting. Spyro looked around, wary of the evil Eon had warned about. The dragon looked to his sides; only grey clouds. He looked above him; and empty grey sky, and beneath him…

"Whoa, wait a minute." Spyro said. He squinted his eyes and peeked down to see a distant figure. Spyro couldn't make out any details from that distance, but the figure seemed to have wings. and was heading toward Spyro.

"It kind of looks like… a dragon?" The Skylander said confused as he looked to Master Eon, but the look on his face unnerved Spyro, for it was a grave expression, of fear and disbelief .

"No, that's not possible…" Eon mumbled.

"Master Eon, what's wrong?" Spyro asked nervous at Eon´s discomfort, oblivious to the mysterious dragon´s exponential increase in speed.

Master Eon faced Spyro, with a frightened expression on his face "Spyro, get out of here, now!" he yelled. But it was too late

The mysterious dragon rammed head-first into Spyro´s chest, sending him sprawling back and knocking the air out of his lungs.

"Spyro!" Eon shouted helplessly as the assailant phased through his ghostly body and chased Spyro.

As Spyro regained focus he tried to get a look at his attacker, trying to get details. The problem was, to Spyro´s dismay, that there weren't any. His attacker was a dragon, a bit smaller than himself and had a stout and skinny build and a curved, fin-like horn on the middle of it's head, but It´s scales were all a deep, pitch black, so much so, that no details could be made out apart from the dragon´s figure. However it did have eyes. Expressionless, empty, perfectly round, orange eyes, that seemed to glow against the perfect darkness of the dragon's scales.

As Spyro finished absorbing the sight of his enemy, he regained composure, steadied his flight and was ready for a fight. "So," He said, "Mind running me through why you did that pal?" Spyro asked. "Cuz I gotta say, I wasnt a fan of it." he said sarcastically.

The pitch black, orange-eyed dragon gave no response, or any indication of being talked to, it just stared at Spyro, as both dragons flew stationary in the gray sky.

"Not much of a talker are you?" Spyro asked mockingly. "Alright, are we still gonna do this?" he said, ready for his opponent to make a move.

And almost as if incited, the dark dragon bent his head back and forward again, firing two orange laser beams out of his eyes, the which Spyro blocked with his wings, and once the attack was finished the retaliated with a fireball aimed at his opponent´s chest. However the dark dragon dove down quickly, dodging Spyro's attack and firing it's own once again.

"Okey," Spyro said as he dodged the orange lazers "let's get serious."

Spyro rose high above his enemy and then dove down with great speed, and as he closed in on the the orange-eyed dragon, Spyro dipped his head down, as small flames errupted on his horns and headbutted his opponent, causing a small shcokwave from the impact. The dark dragon shook it's head, despite its glowing, orange eyes not showing any sign of pain or shock. Then it backed away from Spyro and stretched its wings. And from the joint that connects the membranes of its wings, several small gears flew out, homing in on Spyro and moving at great speeds.

Spyro then readied his breath, and released a large burst of orange flames, so intense they destroyed the enemy's projectiles before they reached Spyro. But once he was finished he was struck square in the face by a blinding impact. The dark dragon had fired it's lasers again, and this time they had struck true, the impact made Spyro back up slightly, rubbing his eyes in pain.

"Well thank goodness for impenetrable scales!" Spyro said still rubbing his eyes. "That kind of hurt Orange Eyes!" he said musingly at his enemy, still as unresponsive as always.

"Ok, I think this has gone on for long enough," The Spyro declared. "What do you say we finish this Orange Eyes?" he asked determinedly as he regained balance and got into battle stance once again.

And almost as if on cue, Orange Eyes charged Spyro, firing his laser once again . Spyro barrel rolled out of the way and lauched a quick fireball, the which hit Orange Eyes right in the face, causing it to stop it's charge and open up an opportunity for another attack, which Spyro took, as he head butted his enemy again, hit it with his claws and released a point-blank fireblast.

Under the relentless assault, Orange Eyes was left without a moment to react and at the final attack, was sent flying off to a small, flat island nearby, on which he crashed with a large thud and remained motionless on the ground, defeated.

"Whew!" Spyro exclaimed. "Can't have too many fights like that one." He said, wiping sweat of his forehead as he flew over his fallen foe.

"Spyro!" Eon's voice sounded suddenly

"Ahhh!" The young dragon screamed from the tension as he quickly turned around to the source of the call.

"Ohhh thank goodness! are you alright?" Eon asked anxiously

"Well apart from the epic fight and close call heart attack" spyro said sarcastically, putting, extra spite on the last remark. "I'm pretty dandy"

"Oh that's wonderful!" Eon said joyously, putting his hands together and sighting in relief.

Spyro looked behind his back, at Orange Eyes fallen body, laid down on the island. "Master Eon?" he asked. "Do you know anything about that guy? Why he looks… like _that_?"

Eon looked grave. " _This should not be possible"_ he thought. " _And seeing it now can only be a bad sign."_ But having learned his lesson about keeping secrets from others, he spoke up after a short breath. "Spyro what you see before you is magic most dark" He said, as his ethereal form approached the fallen dragon, inciting Spyro to do the same. "You have actually had a close encounter with it before. When my brother Strykore turned you evil, he employed similar dark powers."

Hearing that surprised Spyro, and called back several bad memories. _"So this guy is going through the same thing i did back then?"_ He thought as he looked at Orange Eyes' still body.

"This however," Master Eon continued. "Seems to be a much more advanced version of the spell my brother used on you."

The dark dragon stirred, startling both Spyro and Eon causing them to step back. After a few seconds Orange Eyes was on its feet and in combat pose, it's glowing, empty eyes fixated on Spyro.

"Well, i guess this means it's time for round two." Spyro said as he got into combat position, ready to face his pitch-black adversary again.

But suddenly a crushing weight fell down on Spyro's back, causing the dragon to fall to the ground, nearly flattened by the surprise attack. Spyro groaned, pain shooting through his body and felt completely crushed, unable to move as the weight seemed to walk off him.

"I haven't felt so flattened out since I fought Malefor." Spyro mumbled with his eyes closed, conjuring unpleasant memories of being under an oversized claw.

"Skylander, get up, quickly!" Spyro could hear Master Eon shout. "I can't help you in this form, you must flee!"

Through the pain, Spyro opened his eyes to see his new enemy. It was another dragon, and just like Orange Eyes, it was completely pitch-black and detailless. Except that the new dark dragon was built very differently from the first. It was almost twice Orange Eyes' size, was much more sturdily built, had a short tail that ended in a spiked ball and it's eyes glowed an earthy brown instead of orange. but what struck Spyro the most, was that brown eyed dragon, had no wings.

Then Spyro could feel Brown Eyes pick him up by the neck using his jaws, which were biting down firmly against his scales as Orange Eyes seemed to be setting something down on one of the far corners of the island.

Then Spyro looked around for Master Eon. But to the Skylander's dismay, the Portal Master was nowhere to be found. _"Did he seriously bail out?"_ Spyro thought incredulous. _"Now of all times? Really?"_ His train of thought was interrupted by a loud sound. Apparently what Orange Eyes had set down was a portal gate that had just revved up, and as Brown Eyes started to move Spyro toward it, the picture came to his mind. They were going to kidnap Spyro.

"Ohhh no,no,no,no!" Spyro stammered as he used the last bits of his strength to try and wiggle out of Brown Eyes jaws, but the new dark dragon was surprisingly strong, and didn't budge an inch.

And so, Spyro realized with dread what was to come. He was going to be taken away to some evil lair and be turned evil again by a bunch of crazy evil dragons. And so, battered and traped he closed his eyes, defeated.

But then Spyro heard a loud sound and felt as Brown Eyes stumbled to it's side, as if struck by a powerful blast.

"You leave our friend alone you creeps!" Someone yelled.

And so, Spyro opened his eyes and turned his head to see his rescuers, his beloved friends, Eruptor, Stealth Elf, Cynder, Jet-Vac and Pop Fizz, had all arrived and were unleashing a massive whooping on the pitch-black dragons.

Orange Eyes tried to fire it's lazers at Cynder, but the dragoness turned into a dark mist and the lazers passed harmlessly through her figure, only for her to re-solidify and release a powerful lightning blast that sent Orange Eyes sprawling back.

Brown Eyes on the other hand tried to rush for the portal gate, with Spyro still in it's jaws. But just as it got close it suddenly stopped, as Eruptor stood in it's way, holding it in place.

"Oh you can leave," Eruptor growled. "As soon as you give our friend back."

To this, Brown Eyes simply began to forge ahead, pushing Eruptor back as if he was a mild inconvenience more than a real obstacle, startling him and Spyro.

"Woah." Eruptor said nervously. "How strong is this guy? Ummm guys? A little help?" he asked distressed as Brown Eyes pushed Erupto back to the nearing portal.

At this, Jet-Vac fired his weapon, Pop Fizz launched an explosive potion and Stealth Elf threw one of her dargers at Brown Eyes, and under the furious assault, it dropped Spyro, who fell on the ground, still drained from his wounds.

After this both dark dragons retreated to the far corner of the island on which they had set their portal, as they stood surrounded by angry Skylanders.

"Well gentlemen, are we going to finish this or not?" Jet-Vac asked as he raised his vac-gun and the rest of the skylanders assumed combat positions, standing in front of their fallen friend.

The dark dragons simply stood there, unresponsive, not moving or making any sound, their empty eyes still fixated on Spyro. When suddenly the dark dragons' heads and previously expressionless eyes started twitching strangely, unnerving the Skylanders. And then they stopped abruptly, turned around and crossed the portal gate, which disappeared after both dragons crossed it.

This surprised the Skylanders, as their enemy, previously hellbent on taking their friend, had simply turned coat and vanished, with hands empty, no less.

"Well, I guess that means we'll be seeing them later." Jet-vac said, holstering his weapon.

"I hope its not at night time," Pop Fizz said. "Those guys looked spooooky."

"Buy why were they after Spyro?" Cynder asked, concerned. "What would they want to do with him?"

"You know I'm still here, right?" Spyro groaned as he began to stand up behind his friends.

"Spyro!" They all said, as they trapped their friend in a large group hug.

"Geez guys I was gone for like twenty minutes," The dragon said, trying to not be overwhelmed by his friends caring embrace. "And besides," he continued. "I had everything under control." He said smugly.

"Oh, shut up." Stealth Elf said in a friendly tone.

"But wait, how did you know how to find me?" Spyro asked curious.

"It was kind of weird," Pop Fizz said as the group hud dissolved. "We were going to meet Kaossandra in the Academy common room, and then suddenly, Master Eon's ghost popped up out of nowhere us and told us to go find you in some coordinates he gave us"

"Indeed!" A loud voice suddenly said

"Ahhhhh!" The Skylanders screamed in startled unison at Master Eon's sudden drop-in.

"Master Eon, we really have to talk about the whole "popping in" thing." Spyro complained. "Maybe giving out a warning or something?"

"Yes, sorry about that." Master Eon apologised, putting one of his hands behind his head. "But right now, I need all of you to return to the academy at once Skylanders" Master Eon declared. "A matter of utmost urgency must be discussed, and all of you must be there." His eyes moved to Spyro, a tinge of sadness in them. "And I'm afraid that means you as well, young dragon."

Spyro hung his head down. He couldn't help but feel disappointed at the distressing delay from finding his family, but he felt even more concerned about these new evil-doing dragons. If a new threat was rising in the Skylanders, Spyro would just have to stay a little longer.

And then the Skylanders began to take off, readly to return to the Academy, and maybe get some answers about their strage fight.

But as the Skylanders began to leave, they failed to notice something.

From a small island nearby, above the one the Skylanders has fought on, a strange figure had watched the whole thing. Spyro's fight, the dark dragons' performance and the Skylanders intervention.

"Oh, this one will be interesting." The ominous figure mused, in a quiet, slightly raspy voice voice, as it taped its fingers on a nearby rock. "Very interesting indeed."

* * *

The Skylanders were all standing in the Academy common room, waiting patiently for Master Eon and Kaossandra to finish talking over the evil dragon problem. Some of them paced, some of them sat down, but all of them wanted to know more.

After a couple of minutes, the elder portal masters faced the Skylanders from the balcony, to which they responded to by raising their heads and giving their full attention.

"What you have faced today" Kaossandra began. "Is something Eon and I thought was impossible to achieve."

"The enemies you encountered," Eon continued. "Were under the influence of an extremely advanced and extremely dangerous dark spell. So advanced, in fact, we thought no mortal spellcaster could perform it successfully, and Strykore only solidified that belief." He finished.

"Wait, a second." Stealth Elf stepped in. "What does that mean? Someone as powerful as _Strykore_ , the guy who was going to destroy the Core ofLiight, couldn't get this spell right?"

"Exactly." Kaossandra picked up. "He tried to master it when he found it in one of his dark spell books, but never could. The spell was more complicated than anything he, or anyone of us had seen, so he made up his own watered down version, the one he used on Spyro" The sorceress finished.

"This however" Eon continued. "Is a much more complete version, if not the exact description of the spell itself. While Strykore's version caused similar effects, such as evil tendencies and a darkened look, some sherds of personality and bits of one's former self could still be seen. But from what you faced today, we can say that this is not the case." Eon said gravely. "This is a full conversion, and I'm afraid those dragons are not themselves anymore,and I fear we cannot help them come back." The portal master finished sadly.

Spyro felt awful. Not just because these dragons could have been innocent, or because of a feeling of fraternity as a dragon himself, but because he had been through the same thing. Having your body taken over by some other monster, having it used to do things you couldn't stop, was the single worst feeling Spyro could think of, and the thought of anyone else going through something similar, and him being unable to help them, made his stomach drop.

"But how does this link back to Spyro?" Eruptor asked. "Cuz if someone is after my friend with some crazy dark magic and evil dragons, they have to go through me." He stated protectively.

"We don't know why they are after Spyro." Kaossandra said flatly. "We just know that whoever or whatever it is, they have the most powerful dark magic we have ever seen." The sorceress said gravely. "And from this showing alone, we can say… that they are even more powerful and dangerous than Strykore."

The Skylanders looked at each other nervously, small drops of sweat running down their faces. An enemy more powerful and malevolent than Strykore? The guy who beat all of them up, turned their friend evil and almost destroyed the Core of Light? It was hard to picture and terrifying to think about.

But Spyro wasn't afraid, or well he was, this was pretty huge, but he also felt determination. He felt determined to stop this new evil, determined to save these dragons and he was determined to save the Skylands once again. He yearned to see his family, his desire to finally find them had not diminished, it had simply been overshadowed by his instinct, his innate desire to do the right thing and put others before himself.

And so, Spyro raised his head high, stretched his wings and puffed his chest, causing his friends to focus on him as he said…

"Bring it."

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

 _Hello guys. Just FYI im planing on making 13 chapters of this, ya'know like an actual season of the show. The following chapters might be longer too, so we have a lot to look foward to. Also I want to be as faithfull to the original show as posible, so I'm afraid there won't be_ Too Much _shipping here. Don´t worry I wont be able to stop my self from writing fluffy moments, just know that they will be a little far apart._

\- Any characters from the Skylanders franchise shown in this story are not my property.

\- OC's will apear... eventually.

\- Violence will be non-grafic but very present.

\- No swears, adult themes or drug references here.

\- If all goes well, I _Might_ adapt this into a webcomic.


	2. Chapter 2

**Skylanders Academy: New Horrizon**

by andresponceb2002

 **Chapter 2) Hunted**

It was a sunny day, the sky was clear and peaceful as Spyro laid down on his thinking spot. Not _the_ thinking spot, where everyone went to ponder deep thoughts, but rather one Spyro found for himself. It was a small secluded isle, behind the Academy, it had a couple of large rocks, that hid a small clearing behind them, leaving it almost completely unnoticeable, all great qualities for a place to be alone with one's own thoughts.

"I wonder," Spyro thought out loud. "Are they still waiting for me?"

The purple dragon though longingly of his family. He had a burning desire to see them, to see what they were like. Spyro had received a chance to make this all true, thanks to Master Eon, and on that moment he had felt had felt happier than he ever remembered. But now, that chance had been put on hold after a couple of evil, pitch-black dragons Spyro creatively nicknamed Orange Eyes and Brown Eyes, had tried to kidnap him. After that, Master Eon deduced that a new great evil was rising in the Skylands, and that just wasn't something they could ignore.

"I guess we'll just have to wait a little longer to find out." Spyro said, getting up and taking flight back to the Academy.

* * *

Cynder was walking beside Roller Brawl and Hex. They were on their way to and Undead Club group activity on the clearings west of the Academy. Once there, club president Hex had arranged a book reading for her friends to enjoy.

"Are you at least going to tell us what book it is?" Roller Brawl asked. "Because I'm a little picky around my literature."

"I promise it will be something all of us can enjoy." Hex said reassuringly. "But it's a surprise and we're almost there, so just be a little bit more patient."

"Urgh, Fine." Roller Brawl said, crossing her arms, but not complaining anymore.

Then Hex looked at Cynder. The dragoness had a distant look on her face and seemed a little troubled. "Cynder?" Hex asked tentatively. "Are you alright? You haven't said a word all the way here and you look a little down. Is everything ok?"

The violet dragoness suddenly snapped back into focus. "Ahhh, y-yeah, I'm fine Hex, just thinking about some stuff." Cynder said ambiguously.

"What kind of stuff?" Roller Brawl asked.

"We heard Spyro is back." Hex interjected. "But he is being chased by some evil, dark dragons, right? Is that what's on your mind?"

That was exactly what was on Cynder's mind. She would have been overjoyed to hear her friend had returned, if it didn't mean he was being targeted by evil-doers who wanted to kidnap him. "Yeah," Cynder said flatly. "You guessed it."

"Oh Cyndie," Hex said warmly. "You don't need to worry about that right now. Spyro is one tough Skylander. And you already showed those evil-doers what happens when you mess with one Skylander. You mess with all of us." She said reassuringly, putting her arms around Roller Brawl and Cynder. "Now we should just relax with some quality reading." She finished, as they arrived at their destination.

It was a medium sized island, with some large rocks and a tree. There was a large clearing in the middle perfect for a sitting down to read a good book.

"Alright," Hex began. "Who wants to read… The Haunting of the Red Manor!" She said in a jokingly spooky voice.

"Aw yeah!" Roller Brawl cheered. "You know I love scary books!" She said as she skated over to her friend at the island's center.

The scene calmed Cynder down. It was quite serene. The peaceful, sunny day, her friends happily reading a good book together, it really took her mind of recent troubles. She began walking over to her friends, ready to have a fun Undead Club meeting, but as she approached, something caught her eye, and filled her with dread. "Guys Watch out!" She shouted.

Hex and Roller Brawl turned around, confused at their friend's warning, but as soon as they did, all confusion went away.

From behind the tree, a dragon emerged. It's scales were such a pure black, that they absorbed all of the sunlight hitting them, making the dragon seem flat and detailess.

"Is that one of those evil dragons you were talking about?" Roller Brawl asked Cynder, getting ready for a fight.

"No, this one is different." Cynder responded, noticing some differences between the dragon in front of her and the ones she had prviously faced. Most noticeably, this dragon had watery, blue eyes, but just like the others, they were perfectly round and empty. It also had strange finn-like horns and a webbed tail, suggesting that this was once some sort of water dragon.

"Well," Hex said, ready for combat. "There are three of us and one of them. I think we can take this."

"Yeah!" Cynder and Roller Brawl responded in unison, getting into combat positions and ready for a fight.

But suddenly a loud sound, like an explosion, suddenly came from behind the Skylanders. They turned around to see the source of the disturbance, and in the middle of a small, scorched crater, they found it.

"Another one!?" Roller Brawl asked nervously. "How many evil dragons are after you guys?"

The newcomer had the trademark black scales, but it looked quite different than the rest of the dragons so far. For starters, it's eyes were a burning red, that glowed with a scary contrast to the black scales. It also seemed to have feathers instead of wing membranes or a tail. Its snout was also very pointy and sharp, like a bird's beak.

"Well now it's three on two," Hex said. "Aaaand we're surrounded."

Both dark dragons had stayed still since they had revealed themselves, but a few seconds after Hex stopped talking, they pounced in sync, breath attacks ready and aimed at the Skylanders.

* * *

Spyro was on his way to Academy common room to talk to Master Eon. The purple dragon was really troubled about what had been going on recently, and whenever he felt like that he always went to Master Eon for answers. Taking in all that was going on, Spyro really needed a few of those right now.

Suddenly, Spyro heard a strange noise nearby behind him. Kind of like a short hiss. He stopped his flight and looked around, trying to see if he had been followed or it was just a trick of the wind. After not seeing anyone or anything, Spyro assumed it was the latter and continued on his way to the Academy. He landed on the Stone floor of the main entrance and began to approach the door. once he opened it and crossed through he heard the same hissing sound, much closer this time. "Alright, Who is that!?" He shouted at thin air, getting a fittingly soundless response. The dragon shook his head, slightly irritated and called for Master Eon. "Master Eon? Helooo?"

"Eon isn't here right now." Kaossandra's voice announced as the sorceress emerged from the Relics Room bookcase vault. "But as the new headmistress of Skylander Academy I will gladly answer any doubts you have." She said in a mellow voice.

Spyro smiled and took flight to meet Kaossandra at the second floor of the living room. "So, uh," Spyro started shakely. "You seem to know an awful lot about the magic behind turning Orange Eyes and Brown Eyes evil, and about this whole mess in general. I was wondering if there was anything else you could tell me about it?"

Kaossandra darkened slightly, not eager to touch the subject, but after a short sigh, she spoke up. "There isn't a lot you don't already know. These dragons were turned dark and evil by an advanced dark magic spell. This is the original version of the spell Strykore used on you, and it has a much nastier effect. However." The sorceress paused. "I remember that this version had something strange about it." Kaossandra said, taking her hand to her chin in thought.

"Something strange?" Spyro asked curious. "What kind of strange?"

"I think it was something about complicity." Kaossandra said. "Yes, this spell seemed to be designed to ensure total complicity from the victim, and it did that by putting them on a puppet-like state, where any orders from the caster were undeniable, but all will of one's own was lost, making it so that the caster had to feed orders to the puppets so that they could take any sort of action."

"Wait." Spyro interjected. "So if they follow the caster's orders? They aren't evil on their own?" he asked eagerly.

"Um, I guess you could say that..." Kaossandra responded.

"So that means," Spyro beagan enthusiastically. "That if we get the caster, these dragons should all go back to their former selves, right?"

Kaossandra was about to speak but a loud sound of glass ceramic shattering interrupted her and slightly startled Spyro. Then Kaossandra walked over to the source of the sound to find a broken blue vase. "That's odd." She said, suspicious.

Spyro suddenly heard the hissing sound again, even closer than last time. "Ok, who is that?!" It's not funny!" He shouted. "You heard that right?" He asked Kaossandra.

"I did." She answered. "And I don't think we are alone." The sorceress then raised her arms, closed her eyes and began chanting a spell. Her arms started to glow purple and her voice changed slightly. Then she opened her eyes and extended her arms, releasing a pink mist circle, which covered all of the common room, but phased harmlessly through Spyro.

"Ummm, what was that?" Spyro asked.

"A revelation spell." Kassandra answered. "And it worked." She said, pointing at the wall behind Spyro.

When Spyro turned around he jumped in alarm. It was another dark dragon, clinging to the wall with it's head pointed at Spyro. The purple dragon noticed the intruder looked different from Orange Eyes or Brown Eyes. This one was even smaller than Orange Eyes, and had a similarly skinny build, but it had several thin horns and spikes coming out of it's head and the back of it's arms. It also had a bushy tail and wings. And this one's round, emotionless eyes were a vibrant green.

"Well," Spyro began, stretching his wings and lowering his head. "I think we know what we're going to be calling you pal."

"Green Eyes?" Kaossandra guess disappointedly, charging up her magic for the ensuing fight.

"Green Eyes" Spyro agreed with a smile.

After this, Green Eyes fired a spiky yellow orb at Spyro, which the purple dragon dodged narrowly. Then Green eyes crawled of the side of the wall onto the lower floor of the living room, where it waited for Spyro.

Spyro then flew up and launched a fireball at Green Eyes, who fired another yellow orb. The two proyectiles crashed into each other and caused a violent blast of energy and smoke. Then Spyro charged at Green Eyes, diving straight at the dark dragon as bright flames built up on his horns. But as Spyro gor close to Green Eyes, it started spinning around in place, which seemed stupid, but shortly after, several green bulbs sprouted from the ground around Green eyes.

"Are those, _watermelons_?" Spyro asked incredulous, about to ram straight into one. And when he did, the watermelon exploding violently,causing Spyro to be blasted back against a wall.

"That's enough!" Spyro heard Kaossandra shout. Then Spyro saw as a purple lightning hit Green Eyes so hard, the small dragon was flung over the empty clearing behind Master Eon's desk. After several seconds, the intruder seemed to have gone away, and Spyro began to stand up, covered in watermelon juice.

"So," Kaossandra began. "There's more of them."

"Yeah," Spyro agreed. "But how many more? How many have to go through this?" He asked somberly.

Kaossandra looked down sadly. "I don't know." She said. "But i think i figured something out about this whole mess." The sorceress finished.

Hearing that got Spyro's hopes up. "Really!?" He asked eagerly. "What is it? Anything should help!"

"I'm not sure," Kaossandra began. "But I think that-" The sorceress got cut off by the sound of the Academy gates opening loudly and someone shouting "Headmistress Headmistress, we need help!"

The person shouting was Skull, alone without Hex, who seemed very agitated for some reason.

"Oh, no." Spyro flying over to Skull. "You didn't split up with Hex again did you? Because I really don't want to go through the whole "Hug zombies" thing again."

"No! We didn't split up you bonehead!" Skull yelled irritated. "Hex is in trouble! Her, Roller Brawl and Cynder are being attacked by some evil dark dragons!"

"What!?" Spyro asked desperately. "I thought these guys were after me! Where are they!?"

"C'mon, I'll take you there." Skull said. "But we need to get moving! Those dragons looked pretty mean."

"I'll come too." Kaossandra declared. "You will need as much help as you can get."

"Alright, let's go!" Spyro said, as he and Kaossandra began following Skull to their friend's rescue.

* * *

Cynder was breathing hard. She felt completely drained, and by the looks on her friends faces, so did they.

"How long until Skull gets back?" Roller Brawl asked between exhausted breaths.

"Shouldn't be long now." Hex said in an unconvincing tone.

"Well he better hurry," Cynder warned. "Because we are kind of on our last straw here."

Cynder and her friends had fought fiercely against their enemies, but they were tiered now, and the dark dragons that were getting up on the other side of the island, showed no sign of exhaustion or damage of any kind, and simply refused to stay down. Then the red eyed dragon stepped forward It's empty eyes fixated on Cynder, which made the dragoness shiver slightly. But then she composed herself, she wouldn't be frightened by this villian. Then suddenly Hex and Roller Brawl got in front of Cynder, both Skylanders in combat pose despite being hurt.

"You want to take our friend?" Hex asked sternly. "You have to go through us."

The red eyed dragon gave no response, it simply opened it's mouth and a massive column of bright yellow flames erupted, about to incinerate Cynder's friends. But before it could reach them a large purple barrier materialised in front of them, stopping the flames from reaching the Skylanders.

"Whoa…" Roller Brawl said surprised.

Then the Skylanders turned around to find their reinforcements, flying in to the rescue. Spyro, Skull and Kaossandra, who was casting the protective barrier were all coming in fast.

"Have no fear," Spyro said. "The cavalry has arrived!"

And at that Kaossandra lowered the barrier and Spyro fired a huge barrage of fireballs at the dark dragons that was followed by Kaossandra releasing a powerful chained lightning, that struck both enemies and caused them to fall back.

"Ha, ha. ha!" Skull laughed loudly. "Yeah, that's what you get! No one ruins Undead Club meetings but me buddy!

Kaossandra and Spyro landed, rushing to the wounded Skylanders. "Are you alright?" Kaossandra asked.

"We're pretty beaten up." Cynder said, wincing from a painful wound on her right foreleg. "But we should be fine."

Kaossandra nodded. Then strode forward with an intense look on her eyes and proceeded to face down the darks dragons. "Listen to me you pitch-black vermin. You better never return to my Academy, never hurt my students on my watch, and never let me see your expressionless faces again or I will show you what real dark magic looks like!" The sorceress bellowed, dark magic coursing through her arms, and a fierce expression on her face, ready to blast the dark assailants into oblivion.

The dark dragons stood in place, not seemingly intimidated by Kaossandra's fierce speech. However after a few seconds their heads and eyes began to twitch unnervingly. And suddenly stopped.

"Urgh, I hate it when they do that." Spyro said disgusted.

The red eyed dragon walked over to the blue eyed dragon, put it's wings around it's companion and, after a violent burst of ñight and flames, they were gone, a blackened crater being the only thing they left behind.

Kaossandra gave out a tired sigh, clearly exhausted from a troubling day. Then she pulled out her cell phone and dialed Hugo. "Hugo, I need medical support here immediately, we have wounded Skylanders." She paused, waiting for Hugo's response. "I'll explain when you get here, there is no time to waste!" She said angrily as she hung up.

Spyro walked over to Cynder and her friends. They all looked terrible, burns and scrapes all over their bodies. _"Must have been one intense fight."_ Spyro thought, worried about his friend's wellbeing.

"Spyro, Cynder." Kaossandra called. "After we return to the academy and Cynder gets treated, I will need to have a talk with both of you about a something very important."

Spyro and Cynder exchanged a worried glance. This whole "new ultimate evil" thing was getting a little bit out of hand.

* * *

Back at the Skylander Academy common room, Spyro and Cynder were waiting for Kaossandra to finnish telling master Eon's ethereal form what had happened today. Cynder had been treated by Hugo for her wounds, which were mostly not dangerous, except for one nasty wound on her right foreleg, which was bandaged up.

"You're sure it doesn't hurt?" Spyro asked caringly. "It looks pretty bad."

"Yes Spyro, I'm sure." Cynder said mellowly. "I'll be back in action in no time."

Spyro smiled and gave his friend a polite little nod, relieved nothing serious happened to his friends this time.

"Skylanders." Master Eon called. "We must talk."

Spyro and Cynder turned to face Master Eon, anxious to get some answers from the portal master about the situation.

There are eight essential elements in our world." Eon began. "Water, Earth, Tech, Fire, Life, Air, Undead and Magic. Certain beings hold a connection to a certain element, as they are what this world is built upon." Eon said, pacing, or rather floating through the room as he told his little tale. "However,dragons have always had an extremely close relationship with their corresponding element, allowing them to tap into it's very essence. This power was both a wonderful blessing and a horrible curse. Because of a dragons close connection to the essential elements, they proved to be extremely valuable to dark wizards, who hunted them down and used them in horrible rituals."

Spyro cringed after hearing that. The thought of his kind being used as ingredients in some madman's crazy ritual made him sick.

"From what we can tell," Eon continued. "These dragons you have faced, are each of a different element. The ones Spyro faced were Tech and Earth, the ones Cynder faced today were Water and Fire and the one that snuck into the Academy was Life."

"So that means they're missing Undead, Magic and Wind?" Cynder asked, trying to get a grasp of the situation.

"No." Kaossandra responded. "From the way they have been acting, we think they already have six out of eight elements. That would explain why they are so intent on getting you two. You are the missing pieces to their puzzle." She said somberly.

Spyro was starting to feel more angry than afraid. He bared his fangs in frustration, showing it to everyone in the room. "So what's the deal?" he asked angrily. "What does some, brainwashing psycho need eight dragon sized batteries for?"

"There are many rituals." Kaossandra answered. "None of them are good news, and they tend to each be worse than the last. Whoever or whatever is behind all of this must be trying to get one done."

"Because of this,"Eon began. "We cannot allow either of you to leave the Academy unaccompanied, for as of now, you are both being hunted." The portal master finished in a grave tone. "Now you should return to your dormitories and get some rest. Kaossandra and I will get to working on increasing security around the Academy to prevent more incidents like this one." Eon said as he and Kaossandra walked back to the Relics Room, leaving Spyro and Cynder alone, with a grimm tone looming over them. This time the bad guys weren't trying to cause trouble. They weren't trying to steal an old book, they weren't trying to destroy the academy or get some hidden relic. No. This time, the bad guys, were after them.

* * *

The mysterious figure was sitting down on an island, fiddling with some rocks it had found nearby. It was waiting for it's "friends" to return. They were taking a while now. Then the figure looked up and saw three pitch-black dragons approaching quickly. The dragons then landed in front of the figure, their heads low, as if in reverence.

"All empty handed, huh?" The figure asked, it's quiet, slightly raspy voice slow with disappointment. "I won't hear the end of it from the boss." It said, dropping the rocks and standing up with an annoyed grunt.

"I guess I'll have to do this myself."

* * *

 _Author's Notes_

 _Well this is the second chapter. More content is on it's way!_

-I still don't own Skylanders Academy or its characters.

\- Special thanks to: Gabriel1144 and for following, reviewing and faving my measly first chaper. Many thanks.


	3. Chapter 3

**Skylanders Academy: New Horizon**

By andresponceb2002

 **Chapter 3) The Knights of Solitude**

Kaossandra was behind Eon's desk at the Academy common room, sitting down on the large chair, running through the Academy reports for the day. The sorceress gave out a long, tired sigh. Being in charge of the Skylands' most important institution was remarkably more tiring than she had expected. She had to manage bills, review training programs and work through all sorts of paperwork, all while keeping an eye out for any threat to the Skylands. "How did Eon handle all of this?" she wandered, running through some inspector's maintenance standards.

"Well," Kaossandra heard someone say. "He did have me."

The one talking was Hugo. The small mabu walked over to the desk with a kind little smile on his face. "I always helped Eon out with the Academy management. Now, you've had a very rough couple of days, and only just started up! If you need, I can take over for a few hours." The mabu volunteered.

"That's really sweet Hugo." Kaossandra said thankfully. "But I must be on the lookout for-"

The phone on the desk suddenly started rigging, interrupting Kaossandra.

"That?" Hugo asked, pointing at the phone.

Kaossandra picked up the phone. "Hello?" She asked through the phone, then waited for a response. After a few seconds of listening to the message, the sorceress had eyes wide and mouth agape from shock. "Hold on! We'll be right there!" She said desperately as she hung up.

"What's the matter?" Hugo asked nervously.

"Get the Skylanders!" Kaossandra exclaimed. "The dark dragons have been sighted and reported to be attacking a mabu village!"

"Oh dear!" Hugo exclaimed, turning around, running out of the Academy common room shouting. "Skylanders, Skylanders! Assemble, unite, gather, quickly!"

Kaossandra put her hands on her temples, thinking frantically. _"This doesn't make any sense. What do these monsters want? Why are they suddenly attacking the innocent? Weren't they after Spyro and Cynder?"_ The sorceress pondered all these questions deeply, not knowing what to do next.

* * *

"What do you mean I can't go?!" Spyro asked outraged as he watched Stealth Elf, Jet-Vac, Eruptor and Pop Fizz running to the Academy portal platform. "People could be in danger! As a Skylander, I can't just sit around doing nothing Master Eon!"

"Spyro, listen." Eon said as his ghostly form followed Spyro's friends. "This is extremely erratic behaviour on these dragons part. This might very well be a trap to lure you out of the Academy! And with the stakes as they are now, I simply can't let you take such a risk." Eon stated.

"But-" Spyro began.

"Thats final young dragon!" Eon said with finality. "You are not to leave the Academy grounds until we get a grip on the situation. I will accompany the Skylanders to see what these evil-doers are up to, and until then, you must stay safe." He finished, softening up on the last few words.

Spyro growled in frustration, but gave in. "Fine." He said, still upset.

"Very well." Master Eon said as he joined the Skylanders at the portals.

"Sorry Spyro." Stealth Elf said. "But this is probably for the best."

"Yeah." Eruptor agreed. "Besides, we'll be fine. How bad can a couple of crazy dragons be, right?" He asked putting his shoulders up.

"Very bad, Eruptor." Jet-Vac interjected. "The only times we've seen these things in action is when we were late for the party. Something tells me these pitch-black troublemakers still have a couple of tricks up their sleeves."

"Umm, do dragons have sleeves?" Pop Fizz asked, scratching his head.

"Guys! Can we focus?!" Stealth Elf yelled, putting everyone back into the severity of the situation.

"Right, lives at risk." Jet-Vac reminded himself. "Don't worry lad." He told Spyro. "We'll be alright, and back before you know it." He said with a confident smile as, in flash of light the portals took him and Spyro's friends away.

"I know you will." Spyro said in a down tone. "That's not what's bothering me." Of course Spyro knew that this was a trap, these dragons were after _him_ , not some mabu. What was nagging at Spyro's conscience was _who_ the trap was meant for, but no clear answer crossed his mind.

* * *

The Skylanders appeared at the mabu village. It was small and unimpressive, with few, poorly painted houses but it still managed to look like a nice little place to live in. However, it was a rather cloudy, and the sky looked quite gray.

Master Eon floated off the metallic portal platform to the center of the town, scouting the area. "This is suspicious." The portal master said to himself, looking around, not seeing anyone. No mabu nor evil dragons were to be found.

The Skylanders stepped off the portal and moved to meet Master Eon. "Was it just a false alarm?" Eruptor asked

"Kaossandra said the dragons had been reported attacking this place." Stealth Elf said. "And that does not sound like a very good prank call."

"Then why is nobody here?" Jet-Vac asked.

Suddenly, the wind started to blow harshly, starting the Skylanders slightly.

"Whoa, what's with the freaky weather?" Eruptor asked.

"Yeah, and what's with the freaky dragon?" Pop fizz said, pointing up.

It was one of the dark dragons, flying in the grey sky above the Skylanders, staring down on them, with familiar empty eyes.

"I guess that's the sixth one." Stealth Elf said. remembering something Spyro had talked to them about these dragons and them being related to the essential elements of the Skylands.

"Well, it does look remarkably distinct" Jet-Vac said.

The dark dragon had all the trademark features. Detailess black scales and empty round eyes. However this one looked quite different from the rest. It's eyes were a clear sky cyan, different from the deep blue eyes of the dragon Cynder had faced. It's wings and tail seemed to be covered in feathers and it had long, thin ears on the sides of its head. But the most striking feature of the new dragon was a single, smooth, pointy horn in the middle of it's head, that glowed with white energy.

"Well, it's four on one." Eruptor said, putting his fists together.

"Hey!" Master Eon complained.

"And Master Eon's ghost." Eruptor added, rolling his eyes. "I think we can beat this creep, and get back the Academy in no time!" He finished confidently.

Suddenly the Skylanders heard a loud crashing noise, electricity crackle and metal parts break. They turned around to see what the noise had been and the sight filled them with dread. The portal the Skylanders had used to get to the mabu village had been crushed by a large black ball, encrusted in the center of the platform.

"Oh no!" Pop Fizz yelled. "A large black ball destroyed the portal!"

"That's no black ball." Jet-Vac warned.

The black ball started to move and shuffle. Suddenly thick, stumpy legs and arms and a short tail, which ended in a spiked ball, sprouted from the figure's outline, followed by a large reptilian head, with a pair of glowing brown eyes.

"That would be our old acquaintance." Jet-Vac resumed, aiming his vac-gun at the new threat.

But then a large flash of light and flames came from behind the Skylanders, who turned around in alarm. In the center of a small, scorched crater a red eyed dark dragon stood motionless. Empty eyes fixated on the Skylanders.

"Okey." Stealth Elf began. "At least we were right about the trap part right?"

"Yeah, because that's something to be happy about." Eruptor growled bitterly.

"Skylanders." Eon began, rising up above the Skylanders and speaking with a powerful voice. "You must hold fast and stay together, for this will be a prodigiously difficult battle and I will not be able to assist you." The portal master said as the dark dragons began closing in on the Skylanders. "You must prevail, for your companions and even the Skylands themselves depend on you!" Eon said dramatically

The cyan eyed dragon then rushed at Eon's body, destroying the portal masters apparition. As the dragon collided with Eon body it dispersed in a burst of harmless blue energy.

The Skylanders were little shocked at this and saddened at the sight of their tutor being destroyed, but quickly composed themselves and got into battle positions.

"Alright team." Jet-Vac said, loading up his weapon. "Let's show these creeps what we're made of!"

"Right!" The team yelled in confident unison, ready for the fight to start.

Brown Eyes was the first to move. It rolled up into a ball and started spinning in place like a pinwheel. Then it's spinning body launched off at the Skylanders, attempting to roll over them. The Skylanders all jumped out of the way, causing Brown Eyes to smash against one of the village's buildings. Then the cyan eyed dragon fired a strange black and white beam from it's horn and the red eyed dragon released a stream of white an yellow flames at the dispersed Skylanders.

Stealth Elf teleported to the side, avoiding the enemy attacks. Then teleported again above the red eyed dragon, ready to land a powerful kick right between it's empty then a blast of heat and flames cast Stealth Elf back and burned her leg, causing her to exclaim in pain. _"So this one can teleport too?"_ She thought as the red eyed dragon was gone from its original position. Then, Stealth Elf felt something hit her back, knocking the air out of her lungs as she fell to the ground face down. She tried to get up but she felt as two large claws held her down firmly against the ground. She turned her head to see the red eyed dragon above her, holding her in place and with it's mouth open, about to incinerate her.

"Hey! Let her go!" Stealth Elf heard Eruptor shout in rage. A few moments later the magma elemental tackled the red eyed dragon, knocking it off Stealth Elf and pinning it to the ground. "No one hurts my friends, Red Eyes!" Eruptor shouted. Then, the Skylander spewed a big stream of lava, right at the dark dragons face, leaving it completely covered in a hot puddle of lava in a few seconds, causing Eruptor to stand up with a satisfied smirk.

But then a stream of white and yellow flames erupted from the lava puddle and Stealth Elf watched in horror as they completely burned off Eruptor's top half, leaving only his stumpy little legs. Then a dark figure began to slowly rise from the lava. It was Red Eyes, completely unharmed as some lava continued to stream harmlessly down its scales.

"This is not good." Stealth Elf stated. "These guys are very tough."

"I would have to agree with you on that one." Stealth Elf heard Jet-Vac's muffled voice say. She turned around to see the senior skylander on the ground face down. She then paned her head to see Pop Fizz, cornered by the other two evil dragons, flinging potions desperately at his enemies. Then, the cyan eyed dragon fired it's black and white beam at Pop Fizz, who was too busy launching potions at a charging Brown Eyes to react to the attack. It hit Pop on his back and made him fall to the ground. Brown Eyes then turned around and swung it's tail at Pop Fizz, launching him into a wall. Moaning in pain, Pop Fizz slid down slowly down the wall, hitting the floor head first.

"Well," Jet-Vac started, getting up with a pained grunt. "I think I can say this is not going very well."

"Ya think?" Stealth Elf asked harshly.

The Skylanders got back-to-back, facing off against three evil dragons with two downed teammates. Brown Eyes and the cyan eyed dragon were facing Jet-Vac and Red Eyes was facing Stealth Elf. Then Red Eyes stepped forward, making Stealth Elf flinch. The dark dragon opened its mouth, ready to release its flamethrower and incinerate both Skylanders.

But then it stopped, surprising Stealth Elf. "I told you." An angry voice came from behind the dragon. "No one hurts my friends!" Eruptor shouted as he lifted Red Eyes over his head, grabbing the dragon's tail, and slammed it into the ground behind him. Then Eruptor grabbed Red Eyes' tail again, and started spinning, lifting the dark dragon's motionless body of the ground and then flung Red Eyes off the island and out of sight. Stealth Elf and Jet-Vac looked completely stunned, with their eyes wide and jaws agape.

"What?" Eruptor asked. "Regeneration powers, remember?" He said in an obvious tone.

"Good job, Eruptor!" Jet-Vac congratulated his friend, recuperating from his awe. "But we still have a couple of problems to deal with." He said, turning around to face the two remaining dark dragons.

Behind them, Pop Fizz was getting up from the ground, a little dizzy and shaken up. After shaking his head and regaining his balance, the blue gremlin got back into the swing of things. "Whoa, that did not feel good." Pop Fizz looked around and saw his friends facing off against two of the three dark dragons that had shown up.

"Um, guys?" Pop Fizz started, but before he could get his sentence in, he saw how the smaller, cyan eyed dragon stepped forward and lifted its wings. Then it's horn stated to glow a bright white and a small cloud appeared above the dragon. It was rather small, grey and crackling with electricity. The cyan eyed dragon then fired it's black and white beam at the cloud, which seemed odd at first, as even the Skylanders seemed confused. But after the attack connected, three black and white beams fired off the cloud at each of the Skylanders, who, startled by the strange magic, were all struck true by each beam.

"Guys!" Pop Fizz yelled helplessly as his friends fell to the ground,knocked out from the powerful blast. But Pop Fizz' concern soon became fear as the two dark dragons turned around and began to walk towards Pop Fizz.

Pop Fizz gulped hard as the dark dragons cornered him, panic spreading through his body. He reached for his backpack to grab one of his potions, but after his desperate frenzy he felt only one left. He pulled it out of his backpack and once in front of him, gasped at the potion's sight. It was fairly large, glowed neon green and bubbled slightly. The bottle had a small black skull and crossbones on it.

Pop Fizz looked at the potion, then at the dark dragons, then at his fallen friends. _"This is the only way, huh?"_ He asked himself nervously as he looked down at the potion again. Pop Fizz was willing to do whatever it took to protect his friends, and it that meant doing this, then there simply was no choice. "Well then. You asked for it." He told the dark dragons as he uncorked the potion. "Bottoms up!"

* * *

Spyro was sitting on the large twisted tree beside his friend's house at the Academy, looking out at the isles and clouds nearby, floating lazily in the sky. A lot of things crossed his mind, he couldn't really focus on a single thought. Spyro thought about his family, about how close he had gotten to finding them and how now, that opportunity had been taken from him. He thought about all the dragons that had been turned into some madman's evil puppets, just as he had been turned into Strykore's evil henchman. He thought about how those same dragons wanted to kidnap him and Cynder to use them in some crazy ritual.

Each thought overlapped the other, making it difficult for Spyro to focus on any of them. Then the dragon let out a frustrated scream and slammed his fist into the tree's bark causing it to splinter from the impact. The pulsing pain in his hand slightly focused Spyro's mind, calming him down. So much had changed since this whole mess started. He remembered a time where his biggest concern was chompies eating someone's picnic dinner, or one of Kaos' plans blowing up in his face. Spyro gave out a short, nostalgic sigh of those better days as he resumed looking at the view from the twisted tree.

But when Spyro lifted his head he froze up. He noticed something sitting down at the isles farther away from the Academy. It was an ominous figure that seemed to be staring at Spyro. The purple dragon remembered that figure not being there a few seconds ago, which unnerved him slightly. Then the figure sprouted wings, dragon wings and then it began to fly away at great speeds, leaving Spyro behind.

"No, wait!" Spyro called out, as he too took flight in pursuit of the ominous dragon, who Spyro could not get a good look at. Spyro then heard someone call his name. Whoever it was sounded rather distressed, but Spyro ignored them and picked up speed, trying to catch up to the ominous dragon, leaving the Academy far behind him.

The ominous dragon was surprisingly fast and managed to stay a fair distance ahead of Spyro, taking dives, sharp turns and maneuvering around floating islands.

"Woah." Spyro said. "This guy really knows how to fly." Then Spyro had now chased the dragon fow a long time. He wondered where it was heading. Spyro thensaw the dragon head for a strange island. It was rather large and filled with tombstones and twisted dead trees. Then Spyro saw as the dragon touched down near a clearing in the center of the island.

"Hey!" Spyro called as he got closer to the island. But as he did he noticed something about the dragon. So he squinted his eyes and looked closely. Then it hit him, like a truck.

The ominous dragon had purple scales.

* * *

Pop Fizz had forgotten how it felt like.

It had been, what? Years, since he took this potion? He had forgotten the taste. Bittersweet, like lemonade, with a spicy aftertaste. He had forgotten how the world felt like after drinking it. Everything seemed to move slower and looked a little smaller. Oh yes. Pop Fizz had forgotten the frenzied rush of Beast Mode.

The little blue Skylander had grown to almost twice his original size. His clear blue fur had darkened significantly, his teeth and claws had all sharpened wickedly and a frenzied look was on his eyes as purple tinge surrounded his face. The monstrous Skylander roared and crackled crazily as the new rush of might cursed through his body.

Then, Brow Eyes charged at Pop Fizz, trying to headbutt him. The dark dragon was still larger than the Skylander and once the impact connected, Pop Fizz was pushed back, grunting at the effort of keeping the large enemy at bay. But then Pop Fizz grabbed Brown Eyes behind the head and lifted the dark dragon over himself. After bending his knees, Pop Fizz jumped and launched Brown Eyes far above the mabu houses and watched with a crazed smile as the dragon came crashing through one of the houses.

After this, the cyan eyed dragon fired it's beam at Pop Fizz. However the crazed Skylander, puffed out his chest and tanked the attack, laughing maniacally as he readied his arm and punched the dark dragon so hard, it was sent sprawling back, breaking through a window in one of the houses in front of Pop Fizz.

Pop Fizz then flung his arms in the air and cheered in victory. Suddenly, Brown Eyes came rolling through one of the houses and smashed it's spinning body into Pop Fizz, causing the Skylander do become dizzy. Brown Eyes then spun a full circle and swung its spiky tail at Pop Fizz, causing the Skylander to stumble back.

Then Brown Eyes began to spin again, about to hit Pop Fizz once more. But just as the attack was about to land, it stopped abruptly. Pop Fizz had grabbed the dark dragon's tail, and after wildly shaking the large creature around, getting it off balance, Pop Fizz started spinning himself, lifting Brown Eyes off the ground and then flung the dark dragon through a wall. After a loud crash and the sound of stone break, there was silence. The dark dragons had been defeated.

Pop Fizz then roared triumphantly and slowly began to revert to his original form, the mighty roar becoming shrill and unimpressive as the transformation finished. After it did, Pop Fizz cooled down and scratched his head in confusion. "Woah, what did I miss?" The small blue Skylander asked, not recalling exactly what he had just done in Beast Mode.

Pop Fizz then looked around and saw his friends knocked out on the far end of the island. "Guys!" Pop Fizz called as he ran over to help his friends.

"Urgh. What happened?" Stealth Elf asked drowsily as she started to get up, the other Skylanders following soon after.

"You guys were knocked out." Pop Fizz said worriedly. "So I kind of had to take on the bad guys by myself." He said.

"What!?" All three Skylanders asked, stupefied.

"How on earth did you manage that!?" Jet-Vac asked incredulous. "Not all of us together were able to do that."

"Weeeeell." Pop Fizz began.

"Skylanders!" Someone shouted.

"Ahhhhh!" The Skylanders screamed in unison. "Master Eon! The pop-ins!"

"Oh, right, forgot about that." The portal master said apologetically. "But, are you alright? What happened?" Eon asked anxiously.

"We got into the fight," Jet-Vac started. "Got out buts handed to us, got knocked out and then Pop Fizz single handedly won the day?" The senior Skylander said as convincingly as he could, not really believing the words as they came out of his beak.

"Really?" Master Eon asked, turning his head to Pop Fizz. "That is one amazing achievement Skylander!"

"Yeaaaah." Pop Fizz said scratching his head. The blue gremlin looked around, adveting his friends' gaze and noticed something strange. "Uhhh, guys?" He asked. "Where did the bad guys go?"

The Skylanders looked around, surprised at the sudden absence of dark dragons in the area. Not Brown Eyes, Red Eyes or the cyan eyed dragon seemed to be around any more. The Skylanders didn't even hear them leave.

"These villains have a very remarkable drive" Master Eon pointed out. "It is most strange for them to give up like this."

"Maybe Pop Fizz scared them away?" Eruptor said putting his hand proudly on his little blue friend's back.

"I don't think so." Master Eon said. "Their objective, I now think, was to eliminate you, Skylanders. To get you out of the way for their future diabolical schemes." Master Eon said gravely. "They lured you out here, appeared in greater numbers than usual and were focused on you, rather than Spyro or Cynder. For them to just disappear like this. They must have been called back, commanded to shift priorities." The portal master concluded, stroking his beard in thought. "And I don't like what that implies" He said, looking at the destroyed portal gate, their only quick way back to the Academy.

"Because that means, what?" Stealth Elf asked worriedly.

"They weren't meant to eliminate you." Eon said. "They were meant to get you as far away from Spyro and Cynder as they could." Eon realized dreadfully. "And we all fell right into their trap."

"Then that means, they put all of this in motion because they have something up their sleeve." Jet-Vac concluded. "Some trick they have been keeping wrapped up, waiting to use it when Spyro and Cynder were vulnerable. And now that they got us all the way over here, I think our friends are as vulnerable as they can be." Jet-Vac said hopelessly.

Eon looked at the horizon, not knowing what to do next. "Spyro." He said to the wind. "Be careful."

* * *

Cynder was flying as fast as she could. The dragoness was flying through the sky, chasing after Spyro. "Spyro!" She called out. But the purple dragon didn't even flinch. Was he to far ahead? Did he not hear her?

A few minutes ago Cynder was on her way to Spyro's house. She had heard how he had been left behind for a mission regarding the dark dragons, and wanted to pay him a visit. Maybe talk about how things had been going recently. But as Cynder was arriving she saw as Spyro took off, full flight out of the Academy. And now, after minutes of chasing the purple dragon, trying to figure out why he would leave like that, Cynder saw as Spyro headed to a strange island. It was rather grim-looking, with gravestones and dead trees everywhere. She then saw Spyro slow down and stop before landing on the island. "Spyro!" She called again, catching up to the purple dragon. She noticed that Spyro was looking at something in the island, and didn't seem to focus on her arrival. "Spyro?" She asked tentatively. "What's going on?"

Spyro simply kept staring at the island, then said with a small smile. "I'm not the only one. I'm really not."

"What does that mean?" She asked confused as she turned around to see what Spyro was looking at. When she did, she gasped in astonishment.

At the center of the island, with it's back turned against the Skylanders, sat a dragon, with purple scales and golden horns just like Spyro's.

"Its…" Cynder started, in shock from the sight. "It's another purple dragon."

Spyro then flew down and touched down on the island, followed shortly by Cynder. Spyro then began to walk over to the mysterious dragon, curiosity and excitement overwhelming his body. As he got closer to the dragon, he noticed a couple of things. This dragon's scales were darker than his own, reminiscent in color to indigo. It also had the same horns and spikes along it's head and on it's tail, but they looked thinner and more pointy. The dragon's body was also slim, but composed and quite similarly built to Spyro's.

Spyro just couldn't keep it in anymore. For the first time in his life he was meeting another purple dragon, and the excitement spoke for itself. "Hey!" Spyro called out to the mysterious dragon, enthusiasm heightening his voice.

The mysterious dragon flinched at Spyro's call, straightening it's back and standing up. Then it turned around and faced the Skylanders.

The dragon's chest had some strange black markings. Three black strakes on each side, all looking like large, symmetrical gashes. The dragon's face was angular and slim, distinctly male and had several distinctive features. The mouth looked a little dry and chapped, as if his lips were bitten and slightly burned. The dragon also had a strange red mark over his left eye. Upon closer inspection, it looked like an "A".

But the eyes. They made Spyro stop. They eyes had black lines under them, coupled with a tired look, signified little sleep. But the eyes themselves, were disturbing. They were an intense, venomous green, like the kind of green you would see in stereotypical caroon toxic waste. The pupils were very different from Spyro's or Cynder's. They weren't round, they were thin, vertical slits, like a snake's. Spyro could almost fell a sort of pained hatred seep out of them.

And as he met eyes with the dragon, Spyro could swear he felt pain. Real, physical pain from looking into those toxic, hateful things. So Spyro stopped walking forward, unnerved at the exchange, and looked at some other part ot the dragon. His neck was pretty close to his head and didn't have those disturbing eyes on it, son Spyro focused on that.

"Hey!" Spyro started, not meeting the dragon's eyes. "You're a purple dragon!" The awkward start was the only thing the Skylander could come up with. So many thoughts and questions raced through Spyro's mind he just couldn't think of anything else to start with.

"Yes." The dragon said flatly in a quiet, slighly raspy voice. "What gave that away?"

Spyro was a little hurt by the sarcastic response, but the feeling was overshadowed by his excitement. "I'm Spyro!" The Sklander introduced himself. "And this is Cynder." He said, gesturing at his friend. "We're Skylanders!"

The mysterious drgons looked unphased at the information, almost like he alredy knew all of it. Spyro however, kept talking, enthusiasm exhalting his voice. "I just- I have so many questions! Like, where did you come from? Do you know any other purple dragons? What's your favorite color?"

The mysterious purple dragon looked a little overwhelmed by Spyro's enthusiastic barrage of questions. "Umm, look… friend." He started. "I would loooove to answer any questions you might have," He said with a sarcastic tone, which only Cynder picked up on. "But, I actually need a little help from you two."

"Wait." Cynder interjected. "You wanted both of us here?" She asked, finding the situation a little shady, after all, she had never met this dragon before, and yet he seemed to know them.

"I wanted _him_ here." The dragon said, pointing at Spyro. "But I suppose it is easier if you both are."

Cynder was not liking this dragon. He hadn't done anything wrong, but there was just a feeling of uneasiness around him. And the eyes were not helping. Cynder could feel those venomous things stare at her, _though_ her. They felt really cold. But, knowing what it was like to be deemed evil before being given a chance to prove otherwise, and remembering how much this meant to Spyro, she kept to herself and simply edged a little closer to Spyro for comfort.

"Well, what do you need us for?" Spyro asked energetically. "We would be happy to help!"

"Oh, that's wonderful." The mysterious dragon said with a honied voice and a plastic smile. "In that case I just need to know something about both of you before we can start."

"Sure. What do you need to know?" Spyro said, excited to be able to help another purple dragon.

"You two have Magic and Undead as your defining elements, right?" The dragon asked, retaining his fake-looking smile.

When Spyro heard those words, his heart stopped for a split second and his eyes went round from shock. Cynder's face went pale and the dragoness froze up. "Come again?" Spyro asked slowly, begging to have heard the question wrong.

"Are your defining elements, Magic and Undead?" The mysterious dragon repeated patiently, as if the question was completely normal.

"Why would you need to know that?" Cynder asked nervously.

"I have a…" The dragon paused, as if looking for the right words. "Pet. Project." He said awkwardly, scratching the side of his chest, where his black markings were and averting his eyes. "It's kind of a big deal. I have some "friends" helping me." He said. "But we've gotten a little stuck recently. I thought you two, as the great heros you are, could help me."

Spyro had his head low. He felt like was going to be sick. _"All your dragon kind were heroes."_ Spyro could hear Master Eon's voice say in his head. Around those words, Spyro had built the image in his head of what his dragon kind were like. Every time he thought of his ancestors, he conjured images of awesome heroes who told cool jokes. That always made him feel proud of being who he was, it made him feel, great. But now, when one of his dragon kind was actually in front of him for the first time, as Spyro put two and two together, that image only filled him with a crushing disappointment

"It's you isn't it." Spyro said in a weak voice, still looking down. "You are the one behind all this mess." Spyro said, making the mysterious dragon focus on him, showing a kind of morbid interest in the Skylanders affirmation. "Who are you?" Spyro asked finally.

The mysterious dragon gave a smug little smile, unlike his previous one, it was honest yet mocking. And then spoke. "I am Cyrus." The dragon introduced himself. "Captain of the Knights of Solitude." He said with a derisive voice as he bowed exaggeratedly in a display of pure, childish spite.

"Knights of Solitude?" Cynder asked carefully, stepping away from Cyrus.

"Oh you've met them." Cyrus said. "They are quite easy to recognize, but hard to tell apart." He continued, a little bit of cruel mirth in his hoarse voice, as if he was telling a riddle. "Does that ring any bells?"

" _The black dragons."_ Cynder thought, remembering her unpleasant encounter with them. _"Spyro was right, he_ is _the one behind this."_ She concluded.

Spyro on the other hand was starting to feel anger boil inside him. Purple dragon or not this guy was starting to get on his nerves. "Is this funny to you?" Spyro asked "Hurting these dragons, turning them into some twisted, color-coordinated puppet show for you to use, is funny to you?" Spyro asked, anger steadying his voice, still facing down.

Cyrus looked at Spyro, silently, assimilating what the Skylander just said. Then a small chuckle escaped his mouth, surprising Spyro. Then he chuckled again, louder and longer this time as he brought his paw to his forehead. "We are all puppets here friend." Cyrus said, scratching the red mark over his left eye. "My stage is just a little bigger." He finished in a quiet voice, not spiteful or apathetic, but sad. Cyrus then put his paw down and looked at the ground, a pained expression on his face, as if the dragon had recalled a bad memory.

Spyro didn't understand what Cyrus had meant by what he had said, and honestly, didn't care. The Skylander was too angry at the shiftly purple dragon to care about excuses. Spyro felt a mix of sadness and rage, boil up within him. He felt disappointed that the first purple dragon he met was some sarcastic, apathetic jerk. But he also thought that after only a few minutes after meeting him, he hated this dragon. He had done so much harm. He had turned innocent dragons evil, he had made them attack his friends, and was also responsible for stopping Spyro from meeting his family. _"All of us were heroes, huh?"_ Spyro thought _"Some stereotype breaker he is."_

"I'm afraid I am going to need you to come with me." Cyrus said, turning his head to the Skylanders with a disturbing glare. "It's quite urgent for my pet project to be finished, you see." He said with a more insistent voice.

Spyro then finally looked up, and stared at Cyrus' eyes dead on, causing the malevolent purple dragon to flinch. Spyro's eyes were lit up with anger, their intense red color, vibrant and firey as he met Cyrus' deep, venomous green eyes.

Then Spyro stretched one of his wings, covering Cynder protectively, surprising the dragoness. "We aren't going anywhere with you." Spyro stated, neither him nor Cyrus blinking once, each dragon staying perfectly still.

Then, Cyrus closed his eyes, surprising Spyro. Cyrus then looked up, and put his paw over his face. After a long, disappointed-sounding sigh, the purple dragon spoke. "This could have been easy." He said very quietly, almost as if he was talking to himself. "This could have been painless." He finished, moving his paw over to the red mark once again, scratching it slowly. Then, the purple dragon took a long breath, put his paw down and looked at Spyro and Cynder, a disdainful look in his eyes. "Well, I think we all know what's going to happen now."

Spyro did know what was going to happen, he tensed up in anticipation. He just didn't know how he felt about it. This encounter had gone down the drain pretty quickly. Instead of the amazing heroes Spyro was expecting, he was left with an unpleasant villain, who was responsble for a lot of harm. But Spyro still felt conflicted about having to fight one of his own dragon kind, it just felt wrong, and he showed it by backing away from Cyrus, who had stayed in his place, with malevolent eyes focused on Spyro.

Spyro then felt a paw gently touch his back, it felt small and warm to the touch. Spyro turned around to see Cynder, smiling up at him. "We can take him." She said. "Together." The dragoness gave Spyro a small nod. Spyro, who was surpised at his friend's reslove to help him then nodded back. "Together." The purple dragon said, his resolve cemented. Purple dragon or not, Spyro wouldn't let the so-called Captain hurt his friends, or any other dragons anymore. He turned around and let Cyrus know as he got into battle stance, Cynder following soon after.

Cyrus had stayed put during the Skylander's exchange, picking his teeth with his claws. "Should you start, or should I?" He asked in a bored tone.

Spyro then suddenly charged at Cyrus, small flames erupted from his horns as he picked up speed. The Skylander then felt as if he struck something. Spyro looked up to see if he had hit his enemy. The Skylander was a little surprised by what he saw. Spyro was being held in place by Cyrus, who had a strained expression on his face, but had grabbed Spyro by his horns. "You are quite a lively little fella." Cyrus said mockingly. "This is going to take a while." Then the evil dragon's hands started glowing a bloody red as he grasped Spyro's horns even tighter.

At that, Spyro felt like the wind was slowly being pulled out of his lungs and the warmth was being drained from his body. Spyro started feeling weaker and light-headed as he tried to struggle and pull away from Cyrus, but the evil dragon had an iron grip and didn't let go.

Cynder watched in horror, remembering something her father had tried to teach her. It was about an obscure dark magic spell that allowed the caster to drain the vitality from their enemies, simply by touching them. She remembered it being really difficult to cast, and being very dangerous. Then Cynder composed herself and flew at the struggling purple dragons. She then turned into a black mist, phasing through both of them and resolidified behind Cyrus. Once there, the dragoness released a powerful lightning blast at the evil dragon, which not only made him grunt in pain, but distracted him long enough for Spyro to break free from his grasp and headbutt him, right in the snout. Then both SKylanders stepped back, opposite to each other around Cyrus.

Cyrus, hissed in pain as he held his wounded snout and was circled by both Skylanders. He looked around him and assessed the situation, staying still for a second. Then in a blindingly fast movement, Cyrus reached out for Cynder's neck. The violet dragoness couldn't react in time and felt as the evil dragon's paw closed around her neck, choking her. She tried to squirm free, but the evil dragon just held on tighter, not planning on letting go.

Spyro then tried to charge at Cyrus once again, but before the impact hit the evil dragon, he extended his other paw and stopped Spyro's charge midway, surprising the Skylander. _"Jeez, this guy is a lot stronger than he looks"_ Spyro though _"Or am I just weaker than before?"_ He asked, remembering how he had felt the life drain out of him by Cyrus' freaky magic. Either way, the evil dragon now had one Skylander held down on each side. Then, Cyrus' hands began glowing blood red and the Skylanders felt their strength being sucked out of their bodies.

Spyro seemed to be getting less affected by the attack, because while he still had some fight left in him, as he saw how Cynder began closing her eyes and stoped squirming. Then Cyrus lifted her above his head and with a grunt, tossed her away like a ragdoll, her body hit one of the dead trees nearby and she fell to the ground, motionless. Spyro looked at her in horror. She wasn't moving at all.

Then Spyro felt like a volcano erupted inside of him. He finally made up his mind. He hated this guy.

Spyro backed away from Cyrus' hand, and released a fireball at the purple dragon, It looked larger and more red than usual, but Spyro didn't pay that any mind, he was too busy shooting two more of them at Cyrus. The first one hit the dragon's arm, getting him of balance, the second one hit his chest, knocking him back a couple of steps and the third hit his face, knocking him to the ground where he groaned in pain with his eyes closed, black burns smoldering on his indigo scales.

Spyro then walked over to his fallen enemy. The Skylander loomed over the purple dragon. Then Spyro started to charge up his flames. He didn't ever want to see this dragon again. But then he stopped himself suddenly. _"This isn't right"_ He thought. He had never felt like that before in his life. He felt like- like he wanted to- _"No"_ Spyro told himself. _"That is not how Skylanders are supposed to act."_ He said to himself, feeling ashamed. "You just shouldn't have done that." Spyro told his fallen enemy as the Skylander looked over at Cynder's body, and smiled mellowly. Upon a closer look, he could tell she was breathing, slowly, but regularly. It made Spyro happy to see his friend alright.

"I'll remember that next time." A weak voice said.

Spyro then felt as two hands grabbed his forelegs. He then felt cold and weak, as the life was being drained out of him. Spyro then fell limp on the ground, feeling like his bones were made of cardboard, unable to stand up. Then he saw as Cyrus began to rise, the burn marks Spyro had inflicted on the dragon, had all mysteriously disapeared. "You really are a lively pair of nuisances." Cyrus said mockingly. "This was definitely one of the harder fights I've had. But _man!_ People these days just can't tell when someone is trying to play nice!"

Spyro looked confused. From how that fight went, he didn't feel like this guy _played nice_ at all.

Cyrus seemed to pick up on Spyro's confusion as he looked at the Skylander. "You really didn't notice?" He asked, as if he were talking about something obvious. "My flames. I didn't even have to use my breath attack against you."

Spyro's face lit up. He really hadn't noticed that. The heat of the battle didn't give him much time to focus on the little things. Now, Spyro felt dumb and humiliated after losing to someone who wasn't even fighting at their fullest. The evil dragon's laid back atitude about it didn't help.

"I've never fought against two dragons at once." Cyrus stated. "It was a memorable match, but." He said. "It's over." The purple dragon finished as a satisfied smirk crossed his face.

" _No"_ Spyro thought to himself, too weak to actually talk. _"We aren't done yet"._ The Skylander then put all his remaining strength into getting up. He started slowly and shakily, but steadied himself, and stood upright, staring down at Cyrus, whose face now showed pure astonishment and a little bit of fright.

"How is that possible?" Cyrus asked, for the first time letting a tinge of fear creep into his quiet voice.

"Because." Spyro started, trying to steady his voice as much as he could. "I'm thirty flavors of awesome sauce buddy." He said boldly, raising his wings and puffing out his chest.

Cyrus stood there, completely astonished by Spyro's display. "You shouldn't be able to move." Cyrus said, dumbfounded. He suddenly took his paw to his red mark again and started scratching it slowly, like a nervous tic being triggered. Was he panicking? Cyrus looked at Spyro, who was already looking a little more composed. Then looked at Cynder who was still knocked out. And then, an idea crossed his mind. It was a particularly underhanded move, but if it mean less pain for him, Cyrus was willing to try.

"Well, friend." Cyrus began, putting on the fake smile from before and putting his paw down. "If you really are the hero you say you are. You will find a way to forgive me for this one day." He finished, turning around, facing Cynder.

Then Spyro went pale, realizing what the evil dragon was about to do. He was too weak to fly, so he ran. He ran as fast as his weakened body let him.

Then, Cyrus inhaled, and the six black markings on his chest started glowing the same poison green as his eyes. Cyrus stood on his hind legs, bent his head back then forward again, opening his mouth to release a fireball at Cynder's unmoving body. It was green and had black accents, matching Cyrus' eyes, looking remarkably distict from Spyro's fire.

The world seemed to move slower as Spyro ran towards Cynder. He could see that the dragoness was starting to wake up, she was lifting her head slowly, drowsily. Spyro could also see Cyrus' attack flying right at her. But Spyro wasn't worried about her, he had started running just in time. Nothing was going to happen to her.

Then, Spyro stood in front of Cynder, posed on his side so as to cover as much of his friend as he could. _"Remember, Impenetrable scales, impenetrable scales."_ He thought to himself as he closed his eyes and braced for impact.

Then, Cyrus' fireball hit Spyro, making him open his eyes from the impact. The Skylander felt something strange. The flames, weren't hot like his, or like any other flames he had seen. They felt cold and lacked the comforting warmth of regular fire. But then Spyro felt something different, he felt pain. Horrible, burning pain, not like fire burns, but like really bad frostbite, as the green flames crashed against his side. Spyro had been hurt pretty bad before, but this took the cake. He felt like his scales was being torn off, like the flesh beneath them was being eaten away. It hurt so much, he couldn't even scream, he was simply overwhelmed and slumped to the ground.

Spyro could hear Cyrus speak. "Event the little ones hurt." The evil dragon said, his voice much raspier than before. Spyro then hear him cough harshly, like his throat had suddenly gotten really sore.

Spyro's vision became darkened, like he was about to blackout. He tried to tilt his head, to get one last look at Cynder, to see if she was alright. Spyro saw as Cynder looked back at him, her clear blue eyes glistening in the darkness of Spyro's view, she looked shocked, here eyes were wide and had her mouth was a little open, as if she didn't understand what had just happened, but knowing she was alright, was enough for Spyro. He smiled, as the darkness enveloped his conscious and he faded away into sleep.

* * *

Cyrus woke up suddenly. He was laying on the ground, the cold dirt pressed against his face. The dragon stood up slowly, not remembering what had happened. Then he winced. He felt pain shoot up from his side. He looked down and saw a large burn mark over the black streaks on his indigo scales. "Oh." He said simply. "I remember now." Cyrus had been knocked out by that dragoness, he didn't remember what her name was, he didn't fell it was important. She had released a massive electric blast, a lot stronger than the ones she had used before that one. He didn't know how she had managed, that.

He looked around. The other dragons were both gone, not a trace of them anywhere. Cyrus then frowned, annoyed and frustrated. "The boss is going to kill me." He said as he hissed from a stab of pain from his wound, making him put one of his paws over the wound.

Then the dragon saw a little chompy jump out from behind one of the tombstones nearby. The bright green creature jumped around and screeched wildly. Then it looked over at Cyrus, who stared back, and the the little monster started running at him, screeching and flailing before pouncing at the purple dragon. Cyrus grabbed the little green monster, still flailing in his paw, trying to bite him. Cyrus looked at the chompy and smiled. "Thank you." He said softly. Then then dragon's hand glowed red and the little chompy screeched, the sound growing weaker and weaker as the creature stopped flailing and it's bright green skin turned a greyish shade.

The wound on Cyrus' side had vanished and he let out a relieved sigh as the dragon dropped the little green monster, that droped on the ground, motionless with it's mouth open. Cyrus then turned around and looked at the horizon, his venomous green eyes shining with a malevolent glint. "I just knew this one was going to be interesting. Lets see how long you and I can keep the fun going, _Friend."_

* * *

 _Author's Notes_

 _Hey guys! Sorry for the delay on this chapter. Dont worry, I hava a great set of excues. Firstly I had a lot of other things to sort out. Seconly I had a little bit of writer's block. And lastly, this chapter is a lot longer than the previous one. I don't think the rest of them will take this long and you can rest asured that more are on the way!_

\- I still don't own Skylanders Academy.

\- I hope you guys like Cyrus (The OC purple dragon), cuz he's going to be arround a lot more from now own.

\- To soulkiller10000: ;)


	4. Chapter 4

**Skylanders Academy: New Horizon**

andresponceb2002

 **Chapter 4) In the Hall of the Dragon King**

Jet-Vac was sitting down on the shotgun seat of the Tomb Buggy as he and the Skylanders were driving full steam back to the Academy. The wind blowed against the senior Skylander's face and pushed him back into his seat.

"I really must thank you for showing up so quickly! And on such short notice!" Jet-Vac said loudly as the sound of the wind blowing and the supercharger's engine roar, muffled some of his voice.

"No problem!" Sprocket answered back as she drove the vehicle through the floating isles in the sky. "You said it was an emergency after all!"

The Skylanders had recently fought against a group of evil dark dragons in a mabu village far from the Academy. On this battle, the portal that had gotten them there and would get them back home, had been destroyed, leaving them stranded. However, thanks to Jet-Vac's useful vac gun and its communication function, the Skylanders were able to contact Sprocket, who quickly picked them up on one of the superchargers and was now taking them back to the Academy.

"You're a lifesaver Sprocket!" Jet-Vac thanked his friend. "But it is a shame you could only bring the one supercharger."

"True that." Said Stealth Elf, Pop Fizz and Eruptor in unison. The Skylanders were all cramped on the vehicle's back, having a really bad ride.

"I don't know what you mean Jet-Vac." Master Eon said mellowly. "I have actually enjoyed this little trip." The portal master said as his ethereal form followed the supercharger through the air.

"Easy for him to say." Eruptor mumbled angily. "He doesn't need to be cramped back here. He _can't_ get cramped back here! He's a ghost!"

"Now, now Eruptor." Jet-Vac said. "No need to get salty just because you didn't call shotgun first."

"Guys, we're almost at the Academy." Sprocket announced.

The large outline of the Academy came into view as the supercharger began to reach the large training arena on the far edge of the Academy for landing. Once the Skylanders landed, they parted ways with Sprocket, who had other things to do apparently, and got on their way to the main hall as Master Eon followed.

"What do you think Spyro did to entertain himself while we were gone?" Eruptor asked as he walked by his friends on his way to the main hall.

"I'm sure he used his time productively." Stealth Elf said. "Or who knows. Maybe he just looked at the horizon, thinking about how things have changed so much recently."

"Well as long as he stayed in the Academy grounds, I'm sure he will be fine:" Eon said from behind the Skylanders. "Besides, I'm sure Spyro and Cynder kept each other in magnificent company while we were gone." The portal master finished reassuringly. Then, Eon's gaze wandered upward to the sky. "Ah! Speak of the devil!" He said cheerfully as he noticed Cynder's bright violet scales, as the dragoness approached the Skylanders from high above the sky. But as Cynder got closer, Master Eon noticed something strange. Cynder seemed to be carrying something, some _one_ , and she looked quite distressed.

"Help!" Cynder yelled. "Spyro is hurt!"

Eon's face turned pale and panic spread through his body. Cynder was carrying Spyro. He was not moving and had eyes closed. "What in the Skylands happened?" Eon asked weakly, dread building up inside him.

* * *

The Skylanders were in the common room. Cynder was sitting down with her head low as Master Eon paced anxiously through the room while the Skylanders followed his example. Spyro had been taken into the Relics room, where Kaossandra would try to see what she could do to help the purple dragon.

"How is this even possible?" Jet-Vac asked in awe. "I thought Spyro's scales were impenetrable."

"Well you were wrong JV!" Eruptor snapped angrily. "Else our friend wouldn't be knocked out inside of the Relics room with a huge burn on his side!"

"Kaossandra can get him better though, right?" Pop Fizz asked worriedly, looking to any of his friends for an answer.

"Kaossandra is trying her best to keep Spyro stable." Eon stated. "But this is a very unprecedented case. Dragon flames are quite a powerful energy, but I've never seen anything close to the intensity of what caused this." he said gravely. "Cynder." Eon called the dragoness, causing her to lift her head. "I need you to tell us everything you might remember from what happened, anything that might help us piece something together to help Spyro." The portal master said, urging Cynder to speak.

The dragoness hesitated, unsure of where to start. But she colected herself, and after a short sigh, decided to start at the beginning. "I was going to visit Spyro, to see how he was doing." She started. "But when I got to his house, I saw him leave at full speed, like he was chasing something. So I followed him to this strange island where we." The dragoness paused. "Where we found another purple dragon."

"What?!" Everyone shouted together, awestruck.

"You found another purple dragon besides Spyro?!" Master Eon inquired energetically. "What was that like?!"

"His name was Cyrus." Cynder said dryly, her face turning into a frown as she remembered how unpleasant the dragon had been on their meeting. "And he wasn't exactly fun to be around."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Eon asked, his enthusiasm visibly dwindling.

"Master Eon." Cynder started slowly. "It's him. He is the one behind all of this mess!" She said, causing Eon and the Skylanders to gasp in surprise. "He calls himself "The Captain of the Knights of Solitude". He is incharge of the black dragons we've been fighting and." The dragoness paused, trying to steady herself. "He is the one who hurt Spyro."

Everyone was speechless. Cynder's reveal was quite hard to process. Master Eon seemed to have taken it the worst. His glowing form had dimmed down, less bright than usual. A pained, sorrowful look was on his face.

"Wait, hold up." Pop Fizz interjected. "You're saying that a purple dragon, one of the good guys, is actually a bad guy? How does that work?" The gremlin asked confused.

"I don't know." Cynder said, looking down again. "But that's what happened."

Eon then turned around and began stroking his beard in concern. "This is bad, Skylanders." He said. "Very bad indeed. This situation seems to become more and more problematic at every turn. I have no idea how a creature as noble as a purple dragon was seduced to the side of evil, but it just goes to show the severity of this matter." The portal master finished gravely. Eon felt greatly conflicted about what Cynder had said about this new villainous purple dragon. He had always told Spyro that purple dragons were heroes, the defenders of the Core of light. He had seen it himself for crying out loud! But Cynder had no reason to lie. The fact one of the Skylands most revered bloodline of heroes spawned a villian of this caliber, was shocking to him. He could only imagine the crushing disappointment Spyro must have felt.

The vault gate to the Relics room suddenly opened, surprising the Skylanders and focusing their attention. Kaossandra then slowly emerged from the passageway, a severe look on her face.

"Well?" Stealth Elf asked eagerly as she teleported over to Kaossandra. "How is he?"

Kaossandra looked at the floor and spoke in a solemn voice. "I tried everything." She started. "Every spell and every charm, from every book. That wound just won't heal."

"Wha-what?" Eruptor stammered in a panicked voice. "What does that mean? Is Spyro going to be alright?"

"Whoever did this." Kaossandra began. "Used some heavy duty stuff. I can't heal Spyro as I am now. I doubt anyone can."

After hearing that, Cynder started panicking. She started shaking slightly as tiny drops of sweat ran down her head . She then took her paws to her head and began thinking frantically for something, _anything_ that might help her fiend.

"How is that even possible?" Stealth Elf asked incredulous. "What kind of crazy fire did Spyro get hit by to make it so that someone as powerful as you, can't help him Kaossandra?"

"It's called Hellblaze." Kaossandra answered. "They are found naturally on the deepest, darkest pits in the Underworld and I have no idea how it even possible they found their way to Spyro's side. It is said that they could burn for as long as seven days and seven nights and that they can burn down even the most resilient materials. Wounds caused by them are also exceedingly hard to mend."

Cynder then lit up, as if she had heard a trigerword. She had remembered something important. "Guys!" She exclaimed. "I think I know how to help Spyro!"

"Really?!" Everyone asked eagerly, happy for even a chance to help their friend.

"Yes, but." Cynder stopped, raising one of her paws to calm everyone down "It is really dangerous and a last resort kind of thing. So I will only say, if you are sure it's the only way."

This made everyone simmer down. But then Kaossandra spoke, calmly "Cynder." Kaossandra began. "I can tell you right now, if you know about anything that might help Spyro, that would be the only way."

"We don't even care if it's dangerous." Stealth Elf said as she teleported in front of Cynder. "This is Spyro we're talking about. If there is any chance this can help him, we're taking it." The elf finished determinately.

"Yeah!" Eruptor, Pop Fizz and Jet-Vac agreed, ready to help their friend.

Cynder smiled. It felt good to be amongst such caring friends. So, seeing the determination in her fellow Skylanders, she spoke up. "There is this artifact called the "Healing Elixir". It's said it can cure any wound, even really nasty ones like say, hellblaze burns, just by drinking a few drops." Cynder said.

"Well that's great!" Eruptor said. "We just get this Elixir thingy, get it back to the Academy and give to Spyro! Ha! I love it!" The magma elemental cheered.

"There's juuuust one catch Eruptor." Cynder said, making Eruptor stop cheering. Cynder then took a deep breath, and spoke up. "The Elixir is in the Underworld." She said, shrinking slightly, making everyone freeze. "In Darklight Crypt." She continued swaying her head to her left. "Which is kind of like my dad's backyard." She finished, swaying her head to her right, and grinning nervously. "See what I meant by last resort?" Cynder said.

By the time the dragoness finished, everyone looked a little nervous. Fighting the Undead dragon king in his own backyard didn't really sound like all that great of an idea.

"Well." Jet-Vac spoke up first, starting a little shakily. "If going to the Underworld and facing off against Malefor again, is what it takes to save our friend." The Skylander composed himself. "Then that's just what we're going to have to do."

The rest of the Skylanders followed Jet-Vac's example and got themselves together. They weren't letting fear get in the way of saving their friend.

"Yeah." Stealth Elf said. "No offence Cynder, but there is no way your grumpy old man in going to stop us." She said with a confident smile.

Cynder then smiled her self. "None taken. Let's go save our friend."

* * *

The Skylanders were on their way to Darklight Crypt aboard their superchargers while Cynder flew beside them. They were already at the entrance to Malefor's domain, where they sky was a dark grey and the isles were brown and dead.

"Where to now Cynder?!" Stealth Elf asked the dragoness.

"It's over this way!" She responded.

The Skylanders then took a series of turns and dives through the gloomy land as they followed Cynder to Darklight Crypt. As they moved deeper and closed to the Crypt, the sky turned an unnatural greyish blue, the air started to get foggier and foggier and ghostly moans could be heard in the distance. All the scary ambience unnerved the Skylanders.

"C-C-Cynder?" Eruptor stammered. "Are we there yet?"

"Yes, actually." The dragoness responded. "Look!" She said as she slowed her flight and pointed in front of her.

Through the thick fog the sound of ghostly laments had gotten louder and felt closer. And a large stone archway, decorated with a big stone skull with wings sprouting from it's sides could be seen. Rusty Iron fences, adorned with skulls and bones stretched out from its sides and dead, twisted trees stood in front of it, creating a singularly spooky entrance.

"Well." Cynder started as she landed in front of the archway. "Let's get going." She said cheerfully, unaffected by the ghostly ambient as she calmly trotted into Darklight Crypt.

As the Skylanders parked their superchargers in front of the archway, and got off their vehicles, a sensation of fear loomed over them, preventing them from moving forward.

"W-Well lads." Jet-Vac started. "You heard her." The senior skylander said as he ran off after Cynder, at a suspiciously high speed, unaware of the trail of eggs he was leaving behind.

Stealth Elf looked over to Eruptor. The lava Skylander looked like he was one jumpscare away from being scared to death. She then remembered the last time she had seen him so paranoid and asked. "You watched Undead Invasion again didn't you?"

"I wanted to get over it." Eruptor responded in a small voice. "But I was not counting on something like this happening."

"Guys can we move please?" Pop FIzz asked nervously. "You all know what happens when people split up in scary movies." At that, the Skylanders all rushed to catch up with Cynder and Jet-Vac.

Once grouped up, they Skylanders followed Cynder as the dragoness led them through the gloomy landscape. Thick fog, gravestones, creepy statues and bones lying around made the whole place look like a massive graveyard. The ghostly moaning definitively did not help the atmosphere.

"Cynder, where are we going?" Pop Fizz asked in a frightened voice. "I think none of us want to stay here any longer than we need to."

"I agree with Pop on that one." Jet-Vac added while he looked around nervously with his vac gun at the ready, pointed out at the thick mist.

"We should be almost there." Cynder responded calmly. The dragoness walked through a path of mossy grey stone that eventually turned into a stairway which connected to a very large island. The Skylanders followed Cynder as she began to fly slowly up the stairs. "My father keeps all sorts of stuff locked up in a mausoleum around here." The dragoness said. "If he still has the Elixir, he's got it stashed away in there."

"Kind of freaky for your dad to keep stuff in a mausoleum." Pop Fizz pointed out as he followed the violet dragoness.

As the Skylanders finished rising up the stairway, they were faced with an impressive sight. The island was huge. There was a massive circular platform made of gray bricks, with a large hole in the middle. On the other side of the platform lay an intimidating building. It was rectangular in shape, built from the same gray stone as the platform. It had two braziers alight with spectral blue flames on each side of it's entrance and three gargoyles, that seemed to have real skulls instead of stone heads, looked down menacingly from the roof. There also was a gate. It was quite large, black and made of metal, intricate cobweb patterns etched across its surface.

"That's it!" Cynder exclaimed. "The Elixir should be in there! Let's go guys!" She said as she began crossing the massive circular platform while her friends followed close behind.

As the Skylanders approached the center of the platform the ground suddenly began to shake, startling them.

"Woah, what's going on?" Stealth Elf asked worriedly.

Suddenly a disembodied voice boomed, gravely and rough and dreadfully familiar. "Did you really think you could simply walk into the depths of my realm without my consent, unnoticed?" The voice scoffed scornfully. "You are more foolish than I remember." Then, from the large hole in the center of the platform, a large dark violet claw emerged and slammed down on the ground, followed by another claw and then the horned head and the rest of the Skylanders' old enemy.

Malefor stood with wings stretched and chest puffed out, posing intimidatingly over the Skylanders who had all taken more than a few steps back as they shakily got into battle positions. There was something about fighting the Undead Dragon King in his own turf that really put them on edge.

"If you would be so kind." Malefor began. "As to tell me why you have come here, I will do you the courtesy of eating you all in single bites!" The massive dragon threatened, giving a menacing look and growling loudly.

"Dad!" Cynder shouted, surprising her father and her friends alike. "We are not here to fight you." The dragoness said. "I-" She hesitated. "I need your help." She managed, looking up at her father's orange eyes.

At this, Malefor flinched slightly, but barely showed it. "Is that so?" He responded. "After you leave home, renounce your birthright and join up with these Skyfools. _Twice!_ "He said, shouting the last word in rage, making all the Skylanders shrink. "You come and ask for my help?"

"Cynder, I don't think this is a good idea!" Jet-Vac said nervously, but the dragoness was focused on her father.

"I know we didn't leave things on good terms." Cynder responded, a little sorrow in her voice. "But I wanted to give you a chance to mend things. You don't always have to be evil dad, and I know you don't always want to."

Malefor stood still for a moment, just a moment, as he ran his daughter's words through his mind. He then narrowed his eyes and lowered his head slightly. "Suppose I want to, "Mend things" between us." He said, rolling his eyes. "What would you have me do? And for what reason?"

"I need the Healing Elixir from the mausoleum." Cynder responded simply, cutting to the chase. However she hesitated on her second answer, something Malefor noticed. "A friend of mine is hurt."

Malefor smiled maliciously, seeing right through his daughter. "This friend, wouldn't happen to be the purple rat, would it?" He asked, making Cynder flinch. "It is him, isn't it? Oh daughter at least this time you bring me good news!" Malefor said cruelly as a smile tugged at his mouth. "I wonder who was genteel enough to finally eradicate that irritating purple fool." Malefor said, putting one of his claws on his chin in thought. "Whoever it is, they have my gratitude." The dragon king finished with a pleased smirk.

"Look, dad." Cynder said loudly, making her father focus. "A lot of things have happened recently. There are these new villains who call themselves the Knights of Solitude." Cynder said.

"Well with a name like that, they can't be too troublesome." Malefor interrupted.

"But they are!" Cynder responded. "They are a group of evil dragons that are trying to kidnap me and Spyro for some ritual their master is trying to do."

"What?!" Malefor leaned closer to his daughter. "They are after _you?_ " He asked concerned.

"Yes." Cynder responded. "And Spyro too. We've both been attacked by some of them and eventually got caught in a fight with their captain. He was really dangerous and he almost captured us." Cynder continued. "He knocked me out and tried to attack me, but." She paused. "Spyro got in the way, he took the attack for me and got himself really hurt." Cynder finished in a low voice. "So that's why I need that Elixir, so I can help my friend!"

Malefor slowly pulled his head back. He then closed his eyes and let out a long sigh. "I warned you:" He said quietly. "I warned you that joining the Skylanders would only bring about a huge mess for you. Even now, when you are being hunted by some freaks and these, incompetents-" He gestured at the Skylanders. "-Have shown themselves incapable of protecting you, you still wish to be like them."

"They are my friends dad." Cynder responded softly. "I need you to trust them."

The dragon king exhaled. "That does it." He said simply. "From what you have told me, this situation is well beyond the Skylanders' capabilities." He paused, a somber look on his face as he looked down at Cynder. "You were right Cynder, I don't always want to be evil." He said, shifting his now hardening gaze over to the Skylanders. "Sometimes, I just want to be a good parent." Malefor then raised his massive claw and tried to swipe at the Skylanders.

The Skylanders desperately tried to get out of the way of the dragon king's attack, dodging and using their powers to avoid being flattened. When Malefor's strike landed, the paved stones on the platform cracked and the ground shook slightly.

"No, dad! Please stop!" Cynder cried as she flew off the ground, trying to prevent the fight.

But Malefor didn't listen. The massive dragon bent his head back and forward again, releasing a huge stream of flames at the Skylanders, while attempting to avoid attacking Cynder.

Stealth Elf picked up Pop Fizz and teleported together out of the way. Jet-Vac tried to use his vac gun at full power to cancel out the dragon king's flames. A powerful wind current flew out of the vac gun and stopped the stream of flames from reaching the senior Skylander. Then Eruptor, who had been behind Jet-Vac, jumped in front of his friend and fired two firebolts at Malefor. When the projectiles struck the dragon king who grunted and closed his eyes from the impact..

"Insect!" Malefor shouted, making Eruptor give a small welp. The dragon king then raised his claw and slammed it over Eruptor creating a loud crashing noise.

"Eruptor!" Stealth Elf cried as Malefor raised his claw to reveal a flattened puddle of lava.

But suddenly, a pair of eyes poped out of the puddle and a muffled voice sounded. "Don't worry about me!" Eruptor said. "Watch out for the gigant evil dragon!"

Stealth Elf sighed in relief. "Regeneration powers, right." She reminded herself as she readied her daggers and tried to teleport over to Cynder. "Cynder!" The elf called, causing her friend to look down at her. "I don't think this is going according to plan!"

Cynder had a feeling something like this could happen. But she felt like there was still some good in her father _"Sometimes, I just want to be a good parent."_ Her father's voice sounded in her head. But as she looked over to see how Malefor was now lunging forward trying to swallow Pop Fizz as the tiny blue gremlin ran around the platform flinging potions that did very little other than annoy her father, she realized that little bit of good she had felt, was buried a very deep way down.

"I'm sorry dad." Cynder whispered. "But I have to save my friend" She said as she readied her breath. She felt a surge of energy rush out of her mouth as she released a huge chain of lightning at her father, who was turned around, too busy fighting her friends to react to her attack.

When the attack connected, Malefor stumbled and crashed onto the ground. The power of Cynder's blast knocked the dragon king to the ground, making him grunt and hiss as he struggled to stand up again.

"Cynder." Malefor growled. "Do not test me young lady."

"Don't lose focus big guy!" Eruptor said as he stood, now healed from Malefor's flattening. "Pop! Let's go!" Eruptor called his friend.

"Right!" The gremlin responded.

Then, Pop Fizz flung a fiery red potion at Malefor, the which before hitting his dark violet scales was hit by Eruptor's firebolt. This impact made the potion detonate extremely violently. The blast caused the dragon king to shout out in pain and stumble to his side. However he was then stuck by another one of Cynders powerful electric blasts, the which, after hitting Malefor around the neck, caused him to fall to the ground.

Cynder and Stealth Elf regrouped with their friends, together they stood their ground in front of the staggered dragon king.

"Dad." Cynder began. "Just give up. We don't have to do things this way." She said pleadingly, still not wanting to finish her father off.

"Cynder." Jet-Vac interjected. "I don't think this a particularly good idea." He said. "Just remember what happened the last ti-"

The senior Skylander was interrupted by a sudden burst of blue mist that covered him and his friends. The mist had been released by Malefor. The dragon king had waited for the Skylanders to gather up in one place to paralyze them, just as he had done on their previous encounter. As the blue mist dispersed, the Skylanders stood frozen before the dragon king who now loomed over them triumphant but exhausted.

"Yup." Jet-Vac grumbled. "That."

"It's over now." Malefor said breathing heavily. "I am sorry Cynder, but if this is how things must be, then so be it." Malefor said to his now frozen daughter as she looked up at him bitterly. "Because by the Skylands. I am not having my only daughter kidnaped by some dragon degenerates and their madman of a master! So, I am afraid." Malefor lower his head to level with Cynder. "You are grounded young lady."

Cynder was about to snap something back at her father, but a strange voice sounded before she could speak.

"Actually…" The voice came from behind the Skylanders, who were unable to move around to see it's source, but Cynder didn't need to. She recognized the sleepy sound and tiny rasp of that voice. She knew exactly who it was. "If you could give me a minute of your time to talk about that, _your highness_." The last words sounded derisive and mocking rather than reverential. "That would be great."

"Guys, who is that?" Pop Fizz asked, trying to look to his side to see the source of the strange voice.

"It's not possible." Malefor said in a down tone, looking behind the Skylanders. "The moment one purple vermin is destroyed another one takes its place."

The Skylanders' faces lit up. They all remembered what Cynder had told them, about an evil purple dragon.

"Who are you? And what are you doing here?" Malefor asked demandingly.

The Skylanders saw from the corner of their eyes as a slimm, tiered looking dragon, with black markings on his chest and red "A" over his left eye, passed beside them and positioned himself in front of them. The dragon had indigo scales as well as sharp golden horns and spikes similar to Spyro's. His wings hung on his back behind him and had he his head down, making him seem really tired.

"I am Cyrus." The dragon introduced himself, composing his posture and lifting his head. "Captain on the Knights of Solitude." He said with fake prestige and a smug smirk as he bowed exaggeratedly, exactly as he had done when Cynde first met him, making her growl angrily as she remembered the dragon's cruel satire.

The Skylanders looked at the newcomer in dismay, they knew Cynder had told them about seeing another purple dragon, but it was still shocking to witness. Spyro had been the only one of his kind they had known and seeing another one was like finding a four leaf clover.

"Now, your highness." Cyrus began. "I was hoping you and I could come to an arrangement."

"I think you are new around here." Malefor said with disdain. "But I don't _come to arrangements_ with your kind."

Cyrus contemplated the dragon king. He stood still as his eyes moved slowly across the scene. Malefor was clearly not cooperating and the Skylanders' reputation for incompetence preceded them with disturbing accuracy. The purple dragon then sighed, lowering his head and then spoke in a quiet voice with a disappointed tone. "Why is it never easy? Why does it always have to hurt?"

Malefor then lowered his head almost to eye level with Cyrus. "What did you say?" Malefor asked. "Speak up, pest!"

The Cyrus raised his head suddenly, and stared right into Malefor's eyes. The dragon king flinched and took a step back. Those eyes, he felt like hate and agony leaked out of the purple dragon's venomous snake-like eyes.

Then Cyrus breathed in, the black markings in his chest began to glow the same poisonous color as his eyes and then, after a short pause, a ball of black and green flames shot out of the purple dragon's mouth and crashed violently against Malefor's face. The dragon king then belowed in agony. He stood on his hind legs and arched back in pain as he took his claws to his now smoke-covered face. Then with a thunderous crash he slumped over on his back and lay motionless. Complete silence, coming from both the dragon king, the now shocked and speechless Skylanders and even the previously moaning ghouls in the distance, took place.

The silence was then pierced by a sudden coughing fit. The skylanders turned to see Cyrus, coughing harshly and with one of his paws on his throat. He looked like he was having a really sore throat and he spoke in a raspier voice that before. "Nope, never easy." He mumbled to himself. "Neeeever painless." Then Cyrus turned around and cleared his throat, facing the Skylanders.

Cynder looked over to her father. He had stayed still and silent since Cyrus attacked him. "Dad?" Cynder asked weakly. A small tear running down her cheek. She had recently had trouble with meeting her father eye to eye. He was about to take her to the depths of the Underworld, away from her friends once again. But, as hard as it was to admit, he was still her father, and seeing him hurt did not fill Cynder with any kind of joy.

Meanwhile, the Skylanders could hardly believe what they had witnessed. Malefor, the Undead dragon king, one of their most fearsome enemies, struck down in one blow, by a dragon about Spyro's size, no less.

Stealth Elf was the first to compose herself. She shifted her gaze from the fallen evil dragon, to the one in front of her. "So, you're the ringleader?" Stealth Elf asked, remembering what Cynder had said about this guy being the one responsible for all that had happened recently. "You're Cyrus?"

"Yup, that's me alright." Cyrus said, turning around and putting on a fake-looking smile.

"So, you really are a purple dragon?" Pop Fizz asked shakily.

"Yes." Cyrus responded in an obvious tone. "Is there like a color blindness epidemic around here I should be concerned about?" Cyrus asked, a little too honestly. "I swear you are like the third person to ask me that."

"Man, when Cynder told us you were a jerk." Eruptor growled. "I wasn't expecting this."

"Well I'm happy to surprise you." Cyrus responded, with a honied voice as he bowed his head, causing Eruptor to frown in irritation.

"How did you even know how to find us?" Jet-Vac asked. "We didn't even notice you were following us."

"Well, that's because I had someone else following you." Cyrus answered, starting the Skylanders. Who had been following them then?. "I wanted to see what you were up to. But when you got into a fight with the big guy." He gestured behind his head, at Malefor. "I had to get a little bit more, _involved_." He finished, rubbing his apparently still sore throat. "Thanks for that by the way." He added disdainfully, making the Skylanders flinch.

"Who was following us then?" Jet-Vac demanded, confused at the whole situation.

As if on cue, a strange hissing noise sounded behind the Skylanders, who tried to look behind them to see it's source, but failed, still trapped in Malefor's spell. Then out of the corner of their eyes they saw as a pitch black figure walked beside them, and positioned itself beside Cyrus. It was one of the dark dragons, it's small figure and multiple horns, as well as it's destinguishing eyes revealed it's name.

"Green Eyes." Cynder said. "The little one that got into the Academy."

"Indeed." Cyrus began. "This little fella tagged along with you since you left the Academy!" The purple dragon said, putting his paws on Green Eyes' shoulders and surprising the Skylanders. "I mean, it's not like its particularly difficult to find anyway. He informed me of where you were going and allowed me to get here. He is definitely one of the, at least, top three most useful of the Knights of Solitude." He said with something reminiscent of pride in his hoarse voice.

"Well that's great." Cynder snapped, not looking forward to the malevolent purple dragon's sarcastic antics. "But why are you here then?" She asked, cutting to the chase and making Cyrus focus on her. "Are you going to kidnap me and make you little puppet destroy my friends?"

Cyrus looked at Cynder. He looked into her deep blue eyes, they looked fierce and angry, reminding him of that other purple dragon. "Tempting." Cyrus said slowly, managing to not blink for a disturbingly long time. "Veeeery tempting. But-" The dragon said, finally looking away from Cynder and suddenly beginning to scratch his red mark, confusing the Skylanders. "I have a little bit of an issue." He said, turning around. "I need you two alive."

Cynder looked confused at that remark. Kaossandra had not specified if the dragons the rituals needed hed to be alive. But, thanks to the evil purple dragon's input, she figured that apparently they did need to be.

"So that's why." Cyrus picked up. "I, am going to help you this one time." He said, baffling the Skylanders.

"What is that supposed to mean!?" Cynder asked outraged. "You tied to kidnap me and Spyro, you almost kill him, you attack my father and now you want to help us?!"

Cyrus turned around with a small frown on his face. "Wow, when you put it like that, you make me sound like a huuuge jerk." He said in a mockhurt voice, making Cynder even angrier. "Here is how I remember things." Cyrus began. "I wanted to have a talk with your friend, Spyro about something in private. Then you came along, _uninvited_. And when I politely asked you two to do me a solid, you ganged up on and attcked me."

"You wanted to use our fiends as batteries for some crazy ritual!" Stealth Elf ojected.

"Yeah, for like ten minutes while we got it finished." Cyrus responded.

"You almost killed Spyro!" Eruptor yelled.

"That was an accident." Cyrus explained calmly. "Look. The bottom line is: You guys are in a little bit of a sticky situation, and your friend is taking a walk to death's door." Cyrus said, making the Skylanders slowly simmer down. "Since none of us can really have that happen, I will assist you, this time."

"And how are you going to do that?" Cynder asked bitterly. "The only thing that can heal Spyro is behind that door." She gestured at the mausoleum door. "And its locked and sealed with my dad's magic."

Cyrus looked behind him at the imposing mausoleum and then at the fallen dragon king. He then turned around completely and faced the mausoleum. He stood on his hind legs and breathed in. As his black markings began to glow, he released a firebolt at the large black door with surprising accuracy. Once the black and green flames struck the door a cloud of smoke rose and strange sound resonated. But then, once the smoke dispersed, the Skylanders noticed in surprise as a large smoldering hole had appeared on the black gate.

"Woah." Stealth Elf said surprised. "That's a lot of firepower." Surprised that a single firebolt could pierce both metal and magic so easily.

The elf was suddenly interrupted by a harsh coughing fit. The Skylanders looked at Cyrus. The purple dragon was hissing and coughing, as if he was in pain. They noticed some smoke come out of his mouth. The dragon then cleared hit throat roughly and composed himself slowly, looking wounded.

"But at what cost?" Stealth Elf finished, looking down at the purple dragon.

Suddenly, Cyrus turned around and grabbed Stealth Elf's thoat, shocking the Skylanders. Then, the dragon's paw glowed a blood red and Stealth Elf started to feel cold as she gasped for breath.

"As long as you help me pay it." Cyrus whispered. "I don't care."

"Elf!" Eruptor shouted. "Let her go!" The magma Skylander struggled to move but couldn't. Malefor's spell was prodigiously strong and had not yet dispersed.

However Cyrus seemed to heed the Skylanders command, causing Stealth Elf to breath heavily as she recovered form Cyrus' magic. Cyrus then turned to Green Eyes, who had stayed still and silent until that moment. "Get the blue bottle, please." Cyrus commanded, gesturing at the breached mausoleum. The dark dragon then took flight and headed to find the Elixir. The small fry was rather speedy, but not outstandingly fast.

"Now." Cyrus began. "How about we play a game? Whoever speaks first, gets a handshake." He said in grimm tone, raising one of his glowing paws, leaving it clear to the Skylanders what the situation was.

A few moments passed. The ghouls in the distance slowly began to wail again and the Skylanders stood still being Cyrus, who was sitting down, licking one of his paws, similarly to how Spyro does when no one is watching. Green Eyes then returned, emerging from the mausoleum and landing beside Cyrus, with a large blue bottle. It was of a thick tinted glass and had a small grey insignia, with the symbol of the ankh in its middle.

"Alright." Cyrus began putting his paw down. "I'm guessing this is what you're looking for?" He asked as he grabbed the bottle and showed it to the Skylanders.

"Yes." Cynder responded. "That's the Elixir." She confirmed, remembering the last time her father had show it to her, a long time ago to heal a wound of her own. However there was, as always something off about this dragon, and Cynder voiced her concern. "Why are you doing this?" She asked. "Really?"

"I need you friend alive." He answered. "He is no use to me dead or dying in that Academy of yours. So, the best way to get him out of there, if for you to do it for me." Cyrus stated simply.

"You think Spyro is going to come to you?" Jet-Vac asked. "Does that really sound like something he'd do?"

"I don't know. Does it?" Cyrus responded, making the senior Skylander turn pale. That sounded exactly like something Spyro would do.

Cyrus then smirked at Jet-Vac's silence and continued. "Once you get to your Academy and patch your friend up, he is going to want to come after me and _man,_ will he be saving me a lot of time." The dragon continued and then turned to Cynder, who had a worried expression on her face, unsure of what to do now. Cyrus then walked over to her,sat down in front of her and spoke softly. "So," he began. "Let _me_ -" He gestured at himself. "Help _you_ ,-" He gestured at Cynder. "Help _him_ ,-" He placed the Elixir in front of the dragoness "Help _me_." He finished with a smug little smile.

"Alright then." Cyrus stood up and turned around. "This spell is quite powerful." He said, poking Pop Fizz, who winched in pain under the purple dragon sharp claws. "I think you should all be released in abouuuut." He paused, calculating in his head. "Five minutes? The big guy should be up in ten, so you should have a very good window." Cyrus said as he began walking away, with Green Eyes moving after him. "I suppose we will be seeing each other soon." The dragon said. "See ya later." Then, Cyrus took off, and Green Eyes followed him closely.

The Skylanders were then left paralyzed and humiliated. They were left for five minutes that felt felt like five hours. They didn't speak, they didn't even try to move. They just waited, defeated.

After a while, Malefor's spell vanished and the Skylanders were then able to move once again. They stood with their heads low, a somber air hung over them.

Cynder then picked up the Elixir Cyrus had placed in front of her. She looked at the blue bottle, then she looked at her father, who was still laying down. Then, Cynder began to fly over to him, surprising her friends.

"Cynder? What are you doing?" Stealth Elf asked confused.

Cynder didn't answer. She landed beside her father's head. The dragon king had eyes closed and stood still, with half of his head, pressed against the ground even as Cynder stood near him. "Dad." Cynder spoke in a low voice, quiet enough for her friends not to hear. "I'm sorry." She said. The dragoness then approached her father's mouth and uncorked the Elixir. She then tilted the beaker over and held it over Malefor's mouth. A few drops of the potion began dripping out of the vial. After the drops landed on Malefor's mouth, Cynder placed the cork on the potion once again and backed up from her father. She then turned around and flew over to her friends. "Let's go guys." She said, before they could ask about what she had done. "Spyro is waiting for us."

* * *

It was dark. Pure black. Spyro couldn't see anything and he felt like he couldn't move, but he didnt feel panicked. It was warm, and he felt comfortable. Despite not being able to see, Spyro felt like someone was watching him. More accurately he felt like he was being watched over. He felt safe.

"What do you think we should name him?" A voice said through the darkness. It sounded male. It also sounded excited and seemed to be talking to someone else. Spyro listened eagerly, wanting to find out who the voice was speaking to.

After a short pause another voice spoke. "I don't know." The new voice was female. I sounded silvery and pleasant, Spyro was calmed down and could feel himself smile just by listening to it. "Buuut" The voice sounded again. "You know, I've always really liked-"

* * *

Spyro opened his eyes.

The purple dragon was laying down on his side on a bed. He felt really drowsy and tired to close his eyes again. He tied to remember as much as he could from the dream he had just had, but, dreams being dreams, Spyro could barely recall anything. He remember being in pure darkness, and he remembered feeling really warm and comfortable. He also remembered hearing two voices. However. that was all he could remember. Not what they said or even what they sounded like, and he didn't know why, but Spyro felt really sad about that.

"Who were they?" He asked himself, opening his eyes. "Why did I hear them in my dream?"

Spyro's drowsiness had faded really quickly. Must have been his attempt to think together an explanation for his dream. The dragon stood on the bed, which he now realized was his own, meaning he was in his room.

"How did I get here?" Spyro asked himself, not noticing anyone around. Then the memories flooded back, making his temples hurt from the sudden recollection as he took his paw to his head. Spyro remembered Cyrus. The sarcastic, apathetic jerk who was responsible for all of Spyro's recent troubles, the dragon who almost kidnaped him and hurt Cynder. Spyro growled and bared his fangs just thinking about him. But then he remembered. " _You're a purple dragon!"_. Spyro's angry expression, softened into one of sorrow. He still hadn't gotten over that meeting nor what it implied.

Spyro also remembered getting hit by Cyrus' attack. The one that had landed on his side and hurt like the devil. Spyro looked to his side. He was surprised when he saw, not a scratch on him, not even a mark of where he had been hit. That confused Spyro, as he could have sworn he felt like those cold, green flames burned his scales right off. _"So much for_ completely _impenetrable, huh JV."_ Spyro thought to himself.

Then Spyro reflected on the subject of his wound for a moment. He then remembered how he had gotten it. He got in the way of its original target, Cynder. Spyro couldn't figure out why he had done that, he just felt really confused and strange, unable to put his claw on a name for what had driven him to put himself in so much danger for Cynder. Spyro concluded he would have done the same for any of his other friends, they were his friends after all. However, he felt like it wouldn't have been for the same reason as the one that drove him to do it for Cynder, and that bugged Spyro a little bit, because he couldn't tell what that reason was.

Spyro, decided to put that though on hold for it was a little too problematic for him right now. He then got off his bed. He felt normal, not weak or stunned like he remembered feeling during his fight with Cyrus. Then, the purple dragon walked over to his door. He swung it open slowly and looked out. He turned his head to both sides, and strangely, saw no one. "Guys?" Spyro called out as he stepped out of his room. "Guuuuuys?" He called again. It was unusual for his friends to be away from home all at once.

Spyro then flew down to the lower floor of the house and landed in the living room. He was still surprised he was able to move so freely. He had felt awful after Cyrus had used his freaky red magic on him. "What did they use to patch me up?" Spyro wondered. "It is really good stuff!"

Then Spyro heard the door behind him creaked open. The purple dragon turned around to see Pop Fizz entering the house. "Pop Fizz!" He called.

The blue gremlin looked at Spyro and smiled widely. "Spyro! You're okay!" Pop Fizz said as he jumped and tackle hugged Spyro.

"Of course I'm okay buddy!" Spyro said, hugging back. "What did you expect? How long did I go out for?" Spyro asked his friend as he pulled back from the hug.

"Not for long" Pop Fizz answered. "You were just banged up pretty bad is all."

"Well." Spyro began. "I'm all good now." Spyro said. "What did you use to fix me up? Cuz I'll be wanting more of it I ever get hurt like that again." Spyro said jokingly.

"Yeah, well." Pop Fizz said, advering his eyes and making Spyro feel a little concerned. "It's a long story and you know how I'm at at telling long stories."

"What?" Spyro began. "That you derrail into obscure things you abstract from the story once you lose focus and make everyone uncomfortable?"

"Exactly!" Pop Fizz answered. "So, how about you go talk to Master Eon? I think he wanted to talk to you about something." The gremlin informed his friend.

Spyro then deflated a little bit. "Oh, yeah. Thanks for the head's up Pop." Spyro said

"No problem!" Pop Fizz responded cheerfully. "Now, have you seen a large wedge of cheese around here somewhere?" The gremlin asked. "It's not a big deal, it's just that it is walking around and stinking up the whole place."

Spyro looked like he wanted to ask something but Pop Fizz spoke first. "Long story." he said. "You know how I get with long stories."

"Yeah, yeah." Spyro conceded, and began heading to the door to go meet master Eon. "See ya later Pop." Spyro said as he opened the door. and walked out.

* * *

Spyro was standing in the common room balcony, fiddling with some of the stuff on the many desks beside the Relics room vault. He was waiting for Master Eon to arrive for that talk he wanted to have. The purple dragon knew Eon would have a good number of questions to ask him, but Spyro had a good number of questions himself.

Then, the door to the Relics room opened. Spyro saw as Eon's ghostly body floated through the hallway. The portal master then looked at Spyro, and smiled. "Thank goodness you are okay." Master Eon said softly.

Spyro was about to smile back, but something came to his mind. _"Am I okay?"_ He asked himself. He was unharmed sure, but there was something that was nagging at him. Or a lot of things were. For some time now, Spyro had kept to himself a growing list of concerns. This list had gotten longer and longer over time and now, all that unrest piled up and came crashing down on him.

Master Eon noticed this, and he tried to help. "Spyro? Are you alright?" The portal master asked tentatively.

Spyro looked at Master Eon. "I don't know." He responded. "There's just so much happening all at once, I just feel." Spyro paused, looking for the right word. "Overwhelmed." He managed to say.

Master Eon looked somber, but tied his best to help the young dragon with his doubts. "What are you talking about Spyro? What is on your mind?"

"Too much." Spyro said as he took flight. "I have to deal with these freaky dragons trying to kidnap me are actually being controlled by some psychopath just like I had been by Strykore, I have to wait even longer to see my family and don't even know exactly how much longer. _And_ I have to get over the fact that the only purple dragon I've ever met is not just a villain, but the one responsible for everything else." Spyro let out, his voice shaky as he landed once again and faced down, making Master Eon concerned.

The portal master knew Spyro was having trouble with all that was happening recently, but didn't think it had affected Spyro so much. He felt ashamed, for once again he had failed him. Once again he had hurt Spyro with his ignorance.

"Master Eon?" Spyro said, lifting to face his tutor. "What am I supposed to do with all this?" He asked pleadingly in a brittle voice, at a full loss for an answer of his own, his red eyes glistening.

Master Eon looked at Spyro. He looked at the young purple dragon who he had raised and taught so much, beg him for an answer to problems he didn't even know could exist, for problems Eon, even in all his wisdom did not know the answer too. Slowly, Eon could feel his own heart break as he answered in a quiet voice.

"I don't know."

* * *

 _Author's Notes_

 _Well. Here's the fouth chapter. Thanks for all the suport. Be on the lookout for more content!_

\- I still dont own Skylanders Academy.


	5. Chapter 5

**Skylanders Academy: New Horizon**

andresponceb2002

 **Ch 5) Crossfire**

The Outlands. A place found in the far corners of Skylands. It is a place, typically purposed for the exile of high-end evil doers. Barren and depressing, filled with dry winds, grey ash, sharp rocks and sabertooth sheep, it is a truly unpleasant wasteland. But, for all those things, there was one important upside to the Outlands: No Skylanders.

The Doom Raiders have been having a very prolonged losing streak as of late. With their leader in prison, their new pirate ship destroyed and a growing number of Skylanders behind them, the Outlands were the only place where they could find a decent rest. Or at least, as decent a rest as you can get lying on cold, presumably volcanic ash.

Ever since Kaos had been overthrown as their captain, Wolfgang had taken up the position of leader. There were a couple of complaints at first, however Wolfgang was after all, the previous second in command to Golden Queen, as well as the strongest Doom Raider before her, so they were silenced rather quickly. The werewolf was now leading the Doom Raiders through the Outlands in search for a decent place to call a lair. However, progress was slow, and the lesser Doom Raiders were aware of it.

"Wolfgaaaang." Dream Catcher whined as she floated behind the werewolf. "How much longer do we have to gooooo?"

"Yeah! We're tired!" Chompy Mage said, as he followed lazily.

"Why are we even goin' into the Outlands for, Wolfgang?" Pepper Jack complained.

"Because!" The werewolf bellowed, turning around and scaring his companions. "The Outlands are the only place where those good-for-nothing Skylanders won't bother us!"

The Doom Raiders composed themselves and listened while Wolfgang spoke. "Look, the Doom Raiders have been having a really bad rap recently. Ever since Golden Queen got stuck in Cloudcracker Prison and our pirate ship got trashed by Kaos, the Skylanders have been running us down!" He said bitterly. "So, the first step in getting back on track to being the Skylands most fearsome villains, is to find a good place to crash!"

"I get that." Pepper Jack spoke. "But why does it have to be in the Outlands?"

Suddenly the stout chef was picked off the ground by his bib by Wolfgang. "Did you even listen to what I said!?" He shouted, before dropping Pepper Jack on the ground and causing the chef to grunt in pain. "Look twerps, we're gonna keep on keeping on until we find something. This place cannot be completely empty." Wolfgang said.

"Well you're right about that!" A shrill voice said.

The Doom Raiders turned to see Chompy Puppet, pointing over to something to their left.

"Look!" The green prop yelled as it yanked Chompy Mage's arm.

The Doom raiders then turned to see an impressive sight, that caused them all to widened their eyes and gasp in astonishment.

In the distance, floated a massive island. Centered in it, stood a huge black volcano. The mountain was slowly spewing clouds of dark smoke, as well as unnatural blue-colored lava that steamed slowly down it's slopes. near the foot of the volcano, stood several ruined buildings. Covered in ash and run down by time, they looked like the ruins of a once imposing city.

"Well." Wolfgang started. "I guess that's as good as we're gonna get out here. Let's get moving Doom Raiders!" He said as he began sprinting across the barren terrain to reach the strange island.

The Doom Raiders glanced at each other, unsure of what to do.

"I mean." Chompy Mage started. "As long as there aren't any sabertooth sheep, I'll consider it an upgrade."

"Alright, fine." Dream Catcher agreed. "But if we don't get some sort of rest there, I'm seriously leaving the Doom Raiders."

"Hah! You and me both girl!" Pepper Jack said.

Then, the Doom Raiders went to follow Wolfgang, crossing the harsh terrain of the Outlands, in mutual understanding that anything was better than sabertooth sheep.

As the Doom Raiders approached the decrepit city, they noticed a couple of things about it. A great deal of the buildings seemed to be destroyed and the ones that were standing weren't much better off. The buildings also seemed to be of a very forging design thet Doom Raiders were not familiar with. They were all grey with volcanic ash, but some blue stone decorations could be noticed. The city also seemed to be completely abandoned.

After a while, the Doom Raiders reached the mysterious city and began to wander about its seemingly abandoned streets. Afterwards, the group decided to head to the foot of the volcano, not particularly eager to stay in the creepy hamlet. Soon they reached a crossroads, with buildings around every corner of the paved roads. A somewhat thick blanket of ash covered the whole scene, causing the Doom Raiders to leave tracks as they traveled through the streets, getting closer and closer to the unnatural volcano. Oddly enough, as the Doom Raiders got closer and despite the lava of the volcano kept pouring down it's slopes, the temperature didn't increase, at all. The villains found that rather unusual.

"Wolfgang?" Pepper Jack began, with a hint of unease in his voice. "This place ain't sittin' right with me."

"Yeah, it ain't sitting right with us either." Chompy Mage said.

"He's right!" Chompy Puppet agreed. "This place is spooky and we don't like it!"

Then, from the streets of the town, a strange sound came. The sound was a ghostly cry. It was followed by another wail and then another. The Doom Raiders then began to back up into each other and holding each other in fright.

"Oh, great." Dream Catcher began. "So now this place is haunted, huh?" The floating head said in a meek voice.

Wolfgang had stood in place since the wailing started, unphased by the ghostly presence. "Oh c'mon you guys." The werewolf said in a mocking voice. "Who's scared of a few ghosts?" Then, Wolfgang drew his bone harp, and raised his free hand. "I'll show em! This place is ours now!" The werewolf then flung his hand through his bone harp's strings, and from the instrument, a purple wave of musical energy erupted, that crashed into one of the buildings, sending ashen dust everywhere, but also silencing the ghosts in the distance.

Wolfgang then smirked, pleased at his work. "See? There just a bunch of wimps with bad taste in music." The werewolf said as he took his hands to his hips in pride.

"Yeah, you showed em." Chompy Puppet said as he stretched out of his Doom Raider's arm.

"I sure did!" Wolfgang agreed.

As the dust started to settle, and the panicked Doom Raider group hug broke apart, Pepper Jack noticed something in the building Wolfgang attacked. "Hey, guys?" Pepper Jack said. "What's that?"

The rest of the Doom Raiders looked at the building Wolfgang had attacked. There was a medium sized hole in one of it's walls that allowed passage in. There also seemed to be a strange blue glimmering light coming from inside

Wolfgang then sniffed the air loudly, like a bloodhound. "Does that smell like…" The werewolf sniffed the air again, longer this time. "Pie!"

"Pie!?" The Doom Raiders asked in awe.

"You heard me!" Wolfgang responded. "It's in there!" He pointed at the gaping hole in the house's wall, before rushing inside, leaving his companions behind. "Awwww yeah, _score!_ " The werewolf cheered.

"What is it boss?" Chompy Mage asked, a bit of excitement in his voice.

"The best combination ever!" Wolfgang responded as he began to emerge from the house. "Pie and diamonds!" He said as he regrouped with the Doom Raiders, one of each of the items he mentioned on each of his hands while his bone harp rested on his back.

"Wow," Dream Catcher began. "That's some good looking pie, and a pretty shiny rock."

The pie seemed very well baked. The golden brown crust was dotted with dark purple patterns. The shining rock on the other hand, was about the size of a head. It was a crystalline blue, rather similar to the lava from the volcano and seemed to glow faintly.

"I know right?" Wolfgang said cheerfully. "So, we've got, food, dosh and a place to crash, all in one day." Wolfgang said in a prideful tone. "Pretty good, getting back on track hey guys?"

"But how did a freshly baked pie get to an abandoned city?" Chompy Mage asked curiously.

"Maybe the ghosts baked it?" Dream Catcher contributed.

"Who cares!" Wolfgang said. "Fresh pie is fresh pie!"

"You said it boss!" Pepper Jack said, causing his fellow Doom Raiders to cheer in agreement, for things were finally looking up for the Skyland's greatest villains.

"What are you doing here?" A quiet, raspy voice said, startling the Doom Raiders.

Wolfgang then turned around to face whoever had asked the intrusive question. When he did, he jumped back. On the far side of the ash covered street, stood a purple dragon. "Spyro!?" Wolfgang yelled.

"Spyro!?" The Doom Raiders asked in shocked unison, remembering the Skylander's name.

"Guess again." The dragon said disdainfully, looking quite irritated.

Upon closer inspection, the purple dragon looked quite different from the one they knew. This one's scales were a darker purple. It's golden horns and spikes were sharper and more cruelly pronounced that Spyro's. The dragon also had several markings, form black streaks on the sides of his chest, to strange red "A" over it's left eye. However, the most distinguishable feature, were the eyes. They were green, a vile, poisonous green. They glared at the Doom Raiders, causing them to each, even Wolfgang, to take a step back.

Wolfgang then gulped, a little drop of sweat fell down his temple. "Well, if you're not Spyro, we've got no beef with you, dude." Wolfgang said. "So, I think we should all keep it that way." The werewolf finished, putting the pie and shiny rock down before taking his bone harp.

"I'm guessin' this is your place then?" Pepper Jack asked nervously. "If were botherin' y'all, we can just leave."

"Hey!" Wolfgang said in a quiet voice, turning his back on the mysterious purple dragon and facing Pepper Jack. "We aren't leaving!" He whispered through his teeth.

"Why not?" Pepper Jack responded quietly. "That guy is givin' off some really bad vibes!"

"This place is too good to give up, just cuz we ran into Spyro's freaky cousin!" Wolfgang said. "I mean c'mon! Its pie, valuable shiny rocks and possibly a secret volcano lair we've always wanted!" Wolfgang said, pointing at the volcano making the Doom Raiders reconsider the situation. "There's four of us, and one of him, we can take this guy." The werewolf finished as he rose and turned around to meet the purple dragon. "Well, dude. What's it gonna be? We ain't leaving and unless you want to go up against four Doom Raiders to change that-" Wolfgang gestured at his companions. "I suggest you leave."

The purple dragon simply stood in place, contemplating the Doom Raiders. Then the dragon suddenly closed his eyes and took his paw over to the mark over his left eye and started scratching it slowly, mumbling to himself. "Why did they come here? They aren't supposed to be here. The boss is not going to be happy." The dragon scratched his mark slightly faster after each statement, furrowing his brow as he did. Then, he put his paw down and composed himself, glaring at the Doom raiders unsettlingly, making them flinch.

"I'm sorry." The dragon said, actual regret not detectable in his voice. "But, I can't really have you leave, and I can't really have you stay." He said sinisterly. "You know how it is." He finished, looking at one of the roofs over the Doom Raiders, causing them to follow the dragon's gaze.

On the roofs of the buildings above them, two sinister-looking dragons loomed over the Doom Raiders. They didn't even hear them approach. They were a featureless black, with round glowing eyes, each roughly the size of the purple one on the street. One of them had deep blue eyes and a fish-like appearance. The other was slightly smaller and stouter than the first and had orange eyes.

"Wolfgang?" Chompy Mage began shakily. "I don't like the looks of this."

"This is looking really dicey!" Chompy Puppet followed up.

Wolfgang growled and looked over to the purple dragon. "We are the Doom Raiders." Wolfgang said in an angry tone. "The greatest villains in all of Skylands! And we are not gonna-"

"Never heard of you." The dragon said flatly, interrupting Wolfgang mid speech and making him freeze. The other Doom Raiders followed suit, their spirits wounded by the brutally honest commentary. The purple dragon then let out a short sigh before speaking up. "Just kill them already."

On that command, the dark dragons on the rooftops took flight and divide at the Doom Raiders, claws out and breath attacks ready.

The Doom Raiders then dispersed, narrowly avoiding the initial attack. Now, they might be a little out of style, but not out of practice.

Once out of the way, Chompy Mage began chanting a strange spell, causing his hand and puppet to glow green. After a few moments, a wooden staff with a little green effigy of a chompy on its top appeared in his free hand. "Oh, I've missed this little toy." Chompy Mage said maliciously. Chompy Mage then swung his staff in a crescent swing at the dark dragons and several acorns the size of balled up fists shot off the now glowing effigy.

The blue eyed dragon dodged the attack, using a slimy substance to slide out of the way. The orange eyed one flapped its wings and took flight above the projectiles. As the dragons dodged, they released their own attacks on Chompy Mage. The orange eyed one fired two laser beams from its eyes while the blue eyed one released a stream of yellow lightning.

The retaliation caused Chompy Mage to jump back and retreat into the hole on the wall Wolfgang had previously made. The little wizard hid behind the wall, shaking from the close call. "Whew." He said relieved. "That almost got me."

"Got _us_ you mean!" Chompy Puppet reminded him angrily.

Meanwhile Pepper Jack and Dream Catcher faced off against the two dark dragons, who were circling the Doom Raiders slowly.

Dream Catcher began spinning, firing her whirlwind attack at the dark dragons while Pepper Jack began flinging explosive peppers at their targets. The dragons then took flight and began maneuvering through the Doom Raiders' projectiles.

"Let's spice things up!" The chef said gleefully.

"Urgh, lame catchphrase!" Dream Catcher said, looking down on Pepper Jack.

"Hey!" Pepper Jack started. "I've been workshoping that!" He said angrily.

While the Doom Raiders were bickering, the dark dragons attacked again. This time the orange eyed dragon fired a swarm of flying gears at their enemies. Once the distracted Doom Raiders were stuck by the projectiles, grunting in pain as brown metal gears collided with their faces, the blue eyed dragon followed up by using its tail to fling slimy blue muck over the Doom Raiders.

"Ewwww!" Both of them said disgusted, trying to get the slimy stuff off.

But before they could, the blue eyed dragon released a chain of yellow lightning that, augmented by the seemingly conductive slime, shocked Pepper Jack and Dream Catcher into a blackout.

Chompy Mage had heard the whole thing happen from inside the building wall he was hiding behind. He wasn't very eager to join his fellow Doom Raiders in defeat. "I think we should hide, just for a little while." Chompy Mage whispered.

"I agree!" Chompy Puppet stated in a quiet tone as his Doom Raider balled up and ducked his head to avoid being seen by the dark dragons he could hear moving, just outside.

Meanwhile, Wolfgang was facing the mysterious purple dragon. "Alright punk." Wolfgang began, anger easily noticeable in his voice. "You've never heard about us? Well then, I can fix that right up!" The werewolf then raised his arm and swung down on his bone harp, howling as a current of purple magic erupted from the instrument, aimed at the purple dragon.

As Wolfgang's attack connected with the purple dragon, the Doom Raider was surprised to see that not only did the dragon not try to even dodge the attack, but that once it connected, all the dragon did, was lower his head, close his eyes and furrow his brow. Once the wave of magic pased through it's target, the dragon lifted his head and looked at Wolfgang, a bored expression on his face. "It's going to take more than some bad music to beat me, _dude_." He said as a small smirk pulled at his dry-looking lips.

Wolfgang was growling in irritation. This guy was quite the disrespectful brat, and got pretty deep under Wolfgang's nerves. But now, a malicious smile was tugging at Wolfgang's face as well. "I think it's time I showed you a little lesson in _bad_ music punk!" Wolfgang threatened, tuning his bone harp. "You're in for a symphony of pain!"

* * *

Master Eon was pacing, or rather floating through the Academy common room, a distressed expression on his face as he stroked his beard in though.

"Eon." Kaossandra called from beneath Eon. "You can't blame yourself for this."

A few hours ago, Eon had had a brief, wounding talk with Spyro. The portal master had called to see how his pupil had been doing after he had recuperated from a nasty wound inflicted by the Captain of the Knights of Solitude, Cyrus. The malevolent purple dragon had struck Spyro with hellblaze, an exceedingly dangerous energy that required a special Healing Elixir to mend. When he woke up and came to see Eon however, to the portal master's dismay, the young dragon was hurting not physically, but emotionally. Eon felt shame and regret for not noticing this sooner. For once again, being too late to help Spyro.

"That boy is surprisingly talented at keeping things to himself." Kaossandra continued. "There was no way you could have known he was carrying with all this by himself."

"But I should have!" Eon snapped, surprising Kaossandra. "I raised him since he was a mere hatchling. I've seen him grow and hone his skills, stive for his dreams, and yet." He paused, sadness overtaking his features. "I keep on failing him, everytime he truly needs me." Eon said, in a down tone, reflected by a decrease in his ethereal figure's glow. "So much has happened to him in such a short time. He is conflicted about the delay from meeting his family, conflicted about about the innocence of the dark dragons, who are in a position so similar to the one he was in under Strykor's spell. And he also had his hopes and expectations of his kind crushed by that dastardly villain Cyrus. All this has taken a toll on him, confused him greatly." Eon floated down, head and shoulders low. "This isn't even the first time something like this has happened. I always seem to be unable to say or do the right things at the right times." Eon looked distant, mournful. "I just want to help my boy, Kaossandra."

Kaossandra looked like she wanted to say something to comfort Eon, but suddenly, the doors to the common room were swung open.

"Master Eon?" Stealth Elf's voice called.

The elf was being followed by her friends, Eruptor, Jet-Vac and Pop Fizz. The Skylanders seemed to have an air of concern around them. As they approached the center of the common room, Kaossandra and Eon composed themselves, prefering to resume their conversation later.

"Master Eon?" Stealth Elf repeated. "Have you seen Spyro anywhere?" The elf asked in a concerned tone.

"According to Pop Fizz, he came here to talk with you." Eruptor said. "But that was like two hours ago and we haven't seen him since! What kind of talk did you two have?"

"Oh, no." Jet-Vac said with dread. "Master Eon, you didn't give him _the_ talk right?"

"No, Jet-Vac." Master Eon said deflatedly. "I called Spyro to have a talk over how things had been going." The portal master darkened up as he paused. "Let's just say, it wasn't a very lively conversation."

The Skylanders looked concerned at that comment. Was something wrong with Spyro?

The Skylanders looked like they wanted to inquire further, but before they did, a strong wind blew through the common room, blowing papers off Eon's old desk and slightly unnerving everyone. The air also got a lot colder and darker, as if a cold spot had suddenly appeared in the room. Then a ghostly voice sounded, actually scaring the Skylanders.

"Heeelp usssss." The ghostly voice said, growing louder as it spoke.

"Heeelp usssss." A second ghostly voice sounded, startling the Skylanders even more, and causing the wind to blow even harder.

"Well, show yourselves first!" Jet-Vac commanded in a frightened voice as an egg fell down from his behind.

Suddenly the wind calmed down and two flashes of blue light popped in the middle of the common room. The Skylanders, Master Eon and Kaossandra, were now looking at two small, translucent blue figures, floating idly in the middle of the room.

"Ahhhh!" Eruptor screamed. "Ghosts!" The lava Skylander then tried to leave the room, running to the main doors. However, he was stopped halfway by Stealth Elf, who teleported in front of him.

"Eruptor, calm down!" Stealth Elf shouted. "They're just small geists, they aren't dangerous."

"Yeeesss." One of the ghosts said. "We neeed your heeeeelp" The ghost was blue and had white eyes and mouth. It looked rather slender and seemed to have no waist. Instead, it's lower half was a ghostly dispersion of mist.

"S-S-Sorry for t-t-the rude entering." The second ghost stuttered. It was similar in color to it's friend, but this one was round and plump. It's arms were short and thick and it seemed to have puffy cheeks. "B-B-But we were k-k-kind of in a r-r-rush."

"Why, what's the matter?" Kaossandra asked concerned.

"As I saaaid. We neeeeed your heeelp." The first ghost spoke slowly, dragging on some of the words. "I'm Gallant." He introduced himself.

"And m-m-my name is S-Spooky." The second ghost followed.

"How spooky can a name be?" Jet-Vac said. "Common lad, tell us your name."

"I t-t-told you." The ghost said. "It's S-S-Spooky."

"And we'll take your word for it!" Eruptor said nervously as he covered Jet-Vac, preventing him from pressing the ghost further.

"Theeeere's a prooooblem in our toooown." Gallant stated. "We lived peaaacefully, enjooooying pies and the pleeeesant quiet of the ruinssss." He said. "But today. Our hooome has been attacked by criminalssss." The ghost said, making the Skylanders concerned. "They caaall themselvesssss, the Doom Raiderssss."

"The Doom Raiders!?" Pop Fizz spoke up. "It's been a while since we heard from them. Why did they attack your home?"

"W-We don't know!" Spooky said. "B-B-But they s-s-stole our pies!"

The Skylanders then gasped in astonishment.

"I knew the Doom Raiders were evil." Eon said. "But this is a capital offence. Skylanders!" Eon said in a determined tone. "This is evidently an emergency. You must help these ghosts and stop the Doom Raiders from their evil, pie-stealing schemes!"

"Alright!" Jet-Vac said in a confident voice. "You just tell us where did those villains are, and we will take swift care of them!"

"Ooooh, greeeat!" Gallant said excitedly.

"L-L-Let's go then!" Spooky said, as both ghosts began approaching the Skylanders. Both ghosts were then facing each other on opposite sides around the Skylanders, they had started glowing with a strange blue light and seemed to be chanting something. Then, the ghosts began revolving around the Skylanders, with increasing speed as their chant grew louder. They were soon a couple of blue blurs as they spun around the steadily frightened Skylanders

"Hey, lads." Jet-Vac said nervously. "I didn't mean right n-"

In a large flash of blue and white light, the senior Skylander was cut off from his sentence.

Mean while Eon and Kaossandra had watched as the flash occurred. The place where Skylanders and ghosts previously stood was now empty. They had all vanished, leaving the portal masters by themselves.

"Well." Kaossandra started, still assimilating what she had just seen. "Let's just hope they're alright I guess." The sorceress said.

Eon sighed. "Yes, let's just hope."

* * *

Spyro was on his thinking spot. Covered behind large rocks in a small isle behind the Academy, Spyro felt confident he would be left alone to think in peace here. And boy, did he have a lot to think about.

Spyro looked distantly at the horizon. He tied to picture his ancestors, his family. He had always remembered picturing them clearly, in cool poses, saving people and protecting the Core of Light. Thinking about that always filed Spyro with pride, always made him happy. But now, when he tried to picture his fellow purple dragons, all that came to his mind, were Cyrus' horrifying, hateful green eyes, staring at him, looking like the malevolent purple dragon wanted to kill Spyro using just a look.

Spyro then tried to force the image out of his head. With great effort, so much so that Spyro had to clench his fists and close his eyes, he managed to shift thoughts.

He tried to focus on his family, on his desire to meet them, to finally see what they were like. But the thought was interrupted by the image of the dark dragons. Because of them, Spyro was unable to see his family. Spyro felt like he wanted to hate those dragons, but he couldn't. No matter how much he thought about them, about how much harm they were doing, or how they were stopping him from meeting his ancestors, he could not bring himself to hate them. Because they were no guiltier than Spyro himself was when Strykore used his magic to turn him evil. Spyro felt a sort of fraternity with them in that sense, he couldn't help but sympathize with them.

However, who he couldn't sympathize with, was Cyrus. Spyro frowned just thinking about him. About how much of a jerk he was, about how little he seemed to care about his part to play in Spyro's unrest. But most of all he loathed Cyrus because, he was a purple dragon. He was an evil purple dragon, as as such, him just existing shattered Spyro's view of his dragon kind. Just because he existed, Spyro could never again say all his kind were heroes. And even with all that, something deep, very deep inside of Spyro, stopped him from fully hating Cyrus as well. He couldn't tell what that was, and Spyro growled in frustration because of it. Once again, his feelings were blurred and Spyro could feel himself shaking because of it.

Spyro felt his chest tightened and somethig swelled up on his throat. He felt like he wanted to scream at the top of his lungs in frustration. But, he didn't. If he did, someone would hear, someone would come and try to talk. He didn't need that. He didn't need someone to tell him things were going to be alright, because Spyro did not need to listen to lies.

"Spyro!?" Someone called.

Spyro didn't answer. He ducked his head, trying to remain unnoticed. Then Spyro heard his name called again. The person sounded closer this time, Spyro could hear a wingbeat, their voice sounded familiar. Spyro recognized who it was, he felt himself smile after hearing their voice, but the smile on Spyro's face faded quickly. Spyro couldn't bring himself to answer, he just hung his head down and hoped he had not been seen.

Suddenly, Spyro hear as someone landed on one of the rocks behind him.

"Spyro?" The purple dragon heard Cynder call softly.

The dragoness dropped from the top of the rocks onto the ground beside Spyro, approaching him slowly with a caring expression on her face. She noticed how Spyro was quiet and had his head down. He looked really upset about something. Cynder then smiled as she sat down beside Spyro. She nudged Spyro's cheek with the tip of her sout, surprising the purple dragon. "Hey." She started, leaning into her friend's side. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing Cynder." Spyro said while turning his head, not meeting Cynder's eyes. "Don't worry about it."

Cynder straightened her posture and spoke warmly. "C'mon Spyro. You can't expect me to believe that. I can tell something is troubling you." The dragoness paused. "Is it Cyrus? I know that meeting your dragon kind was a big deal to you." She said, seeing if Spyro responded to her comments. "I can understand how he was, _disappointing_."

"That's not it, Cynder." Spyro said. "Or at least, not all of it."

"Then what is it?" Cynder asked trying her best to help. "You can tell me."

"I… I don't know." Spyro got out. "There's just so much that's on my mind. There's my family, there's these dark dragons and yes, there's Cyrus. They all just bundle up together, you know? I can't seem to think about one without thinking about the rest and that." Spyro paused, furrowing his brow as he closed his eyes, thinking of what to say. "That just confuses me. I can't get any clear answers to anything regarding any of those things either, and that definitely does not help."

"Well." Cynder started. "I could try to help." She volunteered, making Spyro glance sideways at her. "You helped me _,_ after all. With my training, with helping me join the Skylanders, you even rescued me from the Underworld!" She said warmheartedly. "I think this is the least I could do to repay you."

Spyro looked moved at Cynder's inssistance to help him. He hadn't realized she cared so much. But he still felt troubled, he still felt unsure. "It's complicated Cynder." He said looking away once again. "It just that I-" He paused searching for the right way to get how he felt across. "I can't tell how I feel about any of this." He said quietly, opening his eyes as he raised his head and looked at the horizon.

Cynder looked at Spyro, she had no idea he was feeling like this. The dragoness looked at the ground, thinking of what to say. "What do you feel right now, Spyro?" She asked, looking down still.

Spyro then faced Cynder fully, for the first time since she got here. He didn't know how to answer that. "I…" Spyro began, suddenly looking a his side, once again staring away from Cynder. "I don't know." He really didn't. He felt as all the things he was concerned about overlapped each other, he thought about how hard it was for him to get any answers, an about how the few answers he had gotten hurt him more than they helped him. Spyro tensed up, shaking slightly as he clenched his fists again, making deep scratch marks on the soil beneath them.

Then, Spyro felt something strange. He felt as Cynder picked up his paws slowly, and held them in hers. Spyro turned his head to look at his friend. When he did he found himself looking at Cynder's clear blue eyes, staring back at his. Spyro didn't move, captivated in the exchange. Then Spyro felt as Cynder let go of his paws gently. But then, he saw as Cynder moved closer to him. She placed her arms around his back and rested her head on one of his shoulders.

"How do you feel now?" She asked tenderly in a quiet voice, tightening her embrace around Spyro ever so slightly.

Spyro felt Cynder's body so close to his, he could have sworn he could feel her heart beating. He then felt as his own arms began moving, almost by themselves. They moved slowly, delicately, surrounding Cynder's back until they made Spyro press his chest against Cynder's. He then rested his head on one of her shoulders, just as she had done with hers. Then, Spyro closed his eyes, he could feel all his troubles melt away from the heat coming off from Cynder's body.

Spyro held his friend, as she held him, and he smiled. "I feel happy." Spyro said mellowly as both dragons held each other, not planning on letting go of their tender moment. For a while at least.

* * *

Wolfgang had been in quite a few battles and faced many foes. Skylanders, thugs, even his own teammates, several times in fact. But he had never been in fight like this one. Pepper Jack and Dream Catcher were on the ground, knocked out by those creepy dragons, which Wolfgang assumed weren't fighting him, because they were looking for Chompy Mage, whom Wolfgang couldn't find either. Meanwhile Wolfgang was facing off against the strange purple dragon in single combat. The little runt was proving to be a taxing foe to beat.

The shiftly purple dragon was really fast, he managed to dodge several attacks as Wolfgang tried to swing his claws at him by stepping back slowly, narrowly avoiding the attacks and really irritating Wolfgang. "Just stay put!" The werewolf yelled in frustration.

"Fine." The purple dragon responded, surprising Wolfgang by actually staying still.

Wolfgang then smiled. _"Well, aren't you cooperative?"_ The werewolf thought to himself as he raised his fist over his head and brought it down on the purple dragon. Wolfgang felt like he had hit something. He looked to see where his blow had landed, only that when he did, he was left with an unpleasant surprise. The dragon had caught his arm on it's way down. He was holding it with both paws, but holding it in place still.

"You are quite strong." The dragon said to Wolfgang. "I'm going to have to hurt you for a long time I'm afraid." The dragon said, more mirth than regret in his tone. Then, the purple dragon's paws started glowing a blood red color.

Wolfgang felt as his knees buckled and his arm weakened in the dragon's grasp. He fell to his knees, feeling colder and weaker after every second the dragon held his arm in place. But by focusing the strength he had left on his free arm, as well as his disdain for the purple dragon, the werewolf looked at the dragon dead in the eyes and managed to throw a nasty corkscrew punch right at the dragon's face. Once the impact hit, the purple dragon was knocked back, letting go of Wolfgang's arm and covering his face in pain.

"That." The dragon said, putting his paw down and glaring at Wolfgang. "Hurt."

"That was the point doofus!" Wolfgang said, picking up his bone harp from the ground beside him. "Now, you've got some pretty funky magic." Wolfgang said. "But, it seems to be contact based." He said, making the dragon flinch, confirming the statement. "So, all I gotta do to beat you, is stay at range!" The werewolf said as he took a step back and tensed the strings on his bone harp as if it were a bow. Then a large purple arrow materialized on the instrument, confusing the purple dragon.

"What strange magic." The dragon mumbled to himself.

"Don't lose focus dude!" Wolfgang taunted as he smiled maliciously. "I want you to feel this!" The werewolf then let loose the strings of his bone harp, releasing the purple arrow at surprising speeds. The purple dragon took flight, avoiding the first attack and once in the air, he extended his arms as his paws glowed red. Then the dragon dived at Wolfgang and tried to swipe at the werewolf with his claws. Wolfgang however, bent his back and did a knee slide, barely avoiding the purple dragon's attack. Once the slide was over, Wolfgang quickly turned around and tensed his bone harp and aimed at the dragon. Then another purple arrow flew off his instrument, this time, striking the dragon in the back, causing it to crash on the street.

After a short pause, the dragon got up slowly but steadily, facing away from Wolfgang. "I changed my mind." He said in a quiet voice. "I won't hurt you." The dragon continued, surprising Wolfgang.

"Are you giving up then?" Wolfgang asked tentatively, not really eager to keep such a tense fight going.

"You didn't let me finish." The dragon responded grimly, making Wolfgang freeze. "I won't hurt you." He said again. "For long." The dragon turned around and when he did, Wolfgang took a step back as fear suddenly overtook his body. The dragon's poisonous green eyes were lit up with hatred, burning holes through Wolfgang's own eyes as they looked at them dead on, not blinking. Not blinking once. Then, the dragon took a step forward and Wolfgang unconsciously took another step back. The dragon then took two steps forward and Wolfgang took two steps back. The purple dragon didn't blink and didn't look away from Wolfgang's eyes for a second, an almost rabid look in his eyes.

"S-Stay away from m-me." Wolfgang said shakily. "D-Don't come any closer!" The werewolf yelled, trying to grab his bone harp and ready another attack before the purple dragon could make another move.

Suddenly, with blinding speed the purple dragon pounced Wolfgang, knocking him to the ground as the dragon stood over the Doom Raider's chest.

After a loud thud, Wolfgang felt as his back hit the hard, cold street floor, the impact made him let go of his bone harp and close his eyes. Then, Wolfgang felt a hideous pain erupt form his left shoulder. He felt like small holes were being pierced into his flesh, immense pressure tearing his skin. The werewolf screamed in agony as he opened his eyes to see the purple dragon, biting down on his shoulder, a ravenous look in his venomous eyes as he held onto Wolfgang's shoulder with his teeth. Wolfgang then tied to move, tried desperately to get the dragon off him, but for some reason, he couldn't. Wolfgang's arms would not move, no part of his body would move, so much so, that he felt like he couldn't even scream again, even though the pain was still raging on. Through the horrible pain of the purple dragon's bite,he felt something similar to what he had felt when the dragon was holding his arm in place before, just much, _much_ worse. It wasn't a gradual drain like before, it was like he had devoured all his vitality in that one bite. Wolfgang couldn't move at all. He felt like the blood in his veins was being frozen and like his lungs had simply stopped working. He felt like almost every bit of life and strength had been drained from his body.

Then, Wolfgang felt like the pressure in his shoulder was released, sighly easing the pain. He saw as the purple dragon loomed over him. His mouth was open, and he was breathing heavily, the deranged look in it's eyes had slightly diminished. As the dragon was panting, Wolfgang noticed something about the inside of the dragon's mouth. It was black, like a black mamba's, but it also seemed to be glowing a faint red beneath it's black texture, similar to the red that was on the dragon's paws when he grabbed Wolfgang.

"Sorry about that." The dragon said, once again, no real regret in his voice. "Awfully rude of me wasn't it? Well, at least I'll try to kept my word." The dragon said, lifting one of his paws over Wolfgang's head. "I won't hurt you for long."

Wolfgang was way too weak to do anything. He couldn't even lift his arms to try and block the iminent final blow. The werewolf couldn't even plead for his life as the dragon's claw came down. Wolfgang bacerd himself and closed his eyes, expecting the worst.

"Cyrus!" Someone called.

Wolfgang did not recognize that name. _"Who's Cyrus?"_ The werewolf thought. _"Is that this punk's name?"_. Then a moment passed, and another, and Wolfgang was still conscious. He opened his eyes and saw the dragon frozen in place, his previously glowing claws halfway down a swipe at the werewolf's face.

The dragon stood motionless, a shocked look on his face.

"These guys might be criminals." The voice said again. Wolfgang noticed something familiar in the way it talked and sounded like, however that did not necessarily make him happy. "But we are not going to let you kill them!" The voice continued, coming from a source Wolfgang could not lift his head to see.

Then the dragon, apparently named Cyrus turned around, still standing over Wolfgang's weakened body.

"You." Cyrus started. "Are not. Supposed. To be here." His voice was slow and shaky, with either rage, fright or a combination of the two.

Wolfgang, could feel a miniscule amount of energy return to his body. He was still too weak to do anything violent against the dragon, but he did have enough strength to lift his head, to confirm who the voices were.

The werewolf didn't know how to fell when he saw the Skylanders, standing across the ash-covered street, in battle positions aiming at the dark dragons and at the Cyrus with their weapons, who were all now focused on the Skylanders.

Wolfgang supposed being captured and sent to Cloudcracker Prison again wouldn't be as bad a getting killed by some purple freak. So, the werewolf rested his weakened neck on the ashen pavement, chuckling quietly to himself. The Doom Raider never in a million years thought he'd be relieved to see the Skylanders swoop in uninvited.

"The Skylanders don't have a jurisdiction, crook!" Eruptor said boldly. "If evil makes a mess, we'll be there to clean it up!"

"We are in the Outlands." Cyrus said in disbelief. "Don't you think this is a bit too far?" The dragon questioned, clearly shocked to see the Skylanders here.

"Wait!" Pop Fizz said, jumping into sight from behind Eruptor. "We're in the Outlands!? How did you get us all the way here?!" The gremlin turned to the couple of ghosts that accompanied them.

"W-We teleported here." Spooky answered. "We can d-d-do that s-s-sometimes." The plump ghost said proudly as he floated beside his slender friend.

"Hooo, kay!" Pop Fizz said as he bent his knees and started breathing hard. "I have a mayor fear of the Outlands. I need a minute to sit down." The gremlin said, slumping over on the ash covered street.

"You didn't tell us we were in the Outlands!" Eruptor said to the blue ghosts. "That wasn't part of the job description!"

"Everybody simmer down!" Jet-Vac commanded, causing the rest of the Skylanders to do so. He then turned to face Cyrus, who had a really distressed look on his face. "If I didn't know better." Jet-Vac started. "I'd say you didn't want us here, Cyrus."

At that comment Cyrus froze up, confirming Jet-Vac's suspicion. "What's wrong fella? sabertooth sheep got your tongue?"

Cyrus then suddenly took his paw over to the red mark over his left eye, and started scratching, as he usually does. However, the dragon also looked a lot more riled up, he was sweating and breathing unevenly, scratching his mark much faster than usual and covering his face with his other paw, shaking slightly while mumbling to himself. "No, no, no, no. This isn't good. The boss is going to be angry. He is not going to like this."

"Ummm, are you alright, pal?" Stealth Elf asked, tilting her head, unnerved at the dragon's erratic behaviour.

Cyrus then looked to the sky and shouted at the top of his lungs. "Maaaasteeeeer!" The shout sounded like a plea for help, and in the condition the purple dragon seemed to be in, the Skylanders didn't question Cyrus' necessity for help.

"Look pal." Eruptor started, not much sympathy in his voice or face as he spoke. "You seem to be having some stress problems. So how about we take you and your friends over to the therapy wing on Cloudcracker Prison, hmm?" The magma Skylander suggested sarcastically.

Before the Skylanders could do anything else, the ground began to shake, getting the Skylanders off balance. Then, a loud rumbling sound came from the volcano behind Cyrus.

"Whoa! What's happening!?" Stealth Elf asked as she tried to keep her balance.

"Oh, i-i-its just the volcano e-e-erupting again." Spooky said calmly.

"What!?" The Skylanders asked in unison.

"Itssss not very unusualllll." Gallant stated as he floated idly above the Skylanders. "It haaaapens quite ooooften, really."

"Then why did you not tell us about it!?" Jet-Vac asked outraged.

At that, the volcano produced a thunderous noise and the Skylanders watched in horror as searing volcanic ash and unnatural blue lava exploded from the mountain's top, obscuring the already grey sky and launching a volley of volcanic devastation their way.

"I'm sorry master." Cyrus said, lowering his head and covering his eyes. "Please. Please forgive me." The dragon said in a weak voice, coving his red mark as he did.

Meanwhile, the dark dragons had begun to twitch their heads and eyes disturbingly. When they came to a sudden stop, they walked past the Skylanders and over to Cyrus. Then, they began to nudge him with their snouts, compelling him to move.

"This guy's boss is a volcano!?" Eruptor asked in disbelief.

"That doesn't matter!" Stealth Elf yelled. "This island is too small! The volcano's eruption will cover all of it soon!"

The elf was interrupted by a large smoldering rock that crashed into one of the houses nearby, smashing all the way through. Meanwhile, other burning rocks began to rain down all over the area around the Skylanders.

"Gallant, Spooky!" Stealth Elf called. "Get us out of here!" The Skylander told the ghosts.

"Don't leave us behind!" A shrill voice shouted.

The Skylanders turned around to see Chompy Mage and Chompy Puppet running toward them rapidly.

"I guess he's right." Eruptor grumbled. "We can't just leave them here." The Skylander looked over to the fallen Doom Raiders. Saving an enemy was a courtesy the Skylanders did not expect to see reciprocated, but one they were honorbound to give.

"Ohhh, thank you friend." Chompy Mage said relieved. "If you want, we could leave right now, just us, leave the other Doom Raiders behind if you're pressed for time." The little wizard suggested.

"As heartwarming as your concern is." Stealth Elf said cuttingly. "We aren't leaving anyone behind."

"Alright, alright." Chompy Puppet said. "It was just a suggestion."

The Skylanders then proceed to group up the unconscious Doom Raiders into a manageable area for Gallant and Spooky to teleport them away. The Skylanders also noticed that Cyrus and his Knights of Solitude had vanished, they credited their undetected leave to the increasing amount of blue volcanic ash and rubble that was raining down.

"Well guys!" Stealth Elf said to the two ghosts. "It's now or never!"

"Right!" Spooky and Gallant agreed in unison as they took their positions opposite to each other around the Skylanders and Doom Raiders. The ghosts then began revolving around the crowded group, with increasing speed as they chanted their spell. The ghosts ended up moving so fast they became blue blurs. Then, with a flash of blue and white light. They were all gone from the mysterious island.

* * *

Back at the Academy, Spyro walked beside Cynder, both dragons on their way to the Academy common room.

"Cynder?" Spyro called, hanging his head a little.

"Yeah?" Cynder responded, turning her head to see her friend.

"I just wanted to say." Spyro began. "Thank you. For what you did back there." He said, facing Cynder.

The dragoness felt her face get a little warm, and she turned away quickly. "D-Don't mention it!" She said. "You would have helped me too."

"Yeah!" Spyro said awkwardly. "Definitely."

Both dragons looked away from each other, small blushes on both their faces.

"We should probably keep that to ourselves, though." Spyro said nervously.

"Yep, definitely." Cynder agreed quickly.

Then, a thought crosed Spyro's mind, which he voiced to his friend. "How did you even know where to find me?" He asked. "That was like, the best hiding spot in the Academy."

"I, ahhh" Cynder began shakily. "I saw you going there one day. You looked a little troubled so I didn't say anything."

"Huh." Spyro began. "I need to look behind my back more often then."

Both dragons then reached the Academy common room doors. Spyro stopped before going in, remembering what had happened last time he saw Master Eon. "He must have felt really bad about how I left." Spyro said. "And it wasn't like I wanted him to feel like that, but-" Spyro hesitated, unsure of what to do.

"Hey." Cynder said warmly. "If you didn't mean to hurt him, then you can fix whatever it is you did." The dragoness said comfortingly. "He cares about you very much, if he is hurting right now it's because he thought he hurt _you_." She said, making Spyro brighten up. "Go on then." Cynder gestured at the door for Spyro to open it.

With a small breath, Spyro entered the Academy common room, with Cynder behind him. In the balcony, Spyro could see Master Eon, floating idly, with his hands behind his back. "Master Eon?" He called.

Then, Eon turned around at the purple dragon's call. "Spyro!" He said. "Are you alright?" He asked eagerly as he floated to meet Spyro.

"Yes, I am." Spyro said mellowly. "How are you?" He asked his tutor.

"Oh, Spyro." Eon said in a brittle voice, doing exaggerated motions with his arms. "I'm so sorry for letting you down again. I promise it will never, ever happen again!"

"That's fine Master Eon." Spyro said, a little uncomfortable with the portal masters display. "It was not your fault. I shouldn't have put all that weight on you."

"But you should have!" Eon said, his eyes filled with ghostly tears. "I should be able to look after you! I raised you for Skylands sakes!"

"Oh, leave the boy alone Eon!" Kaossandra said as she emerged from the Relics room. "He already forgave you, so just stop making him uncomfortable _and_ embarrassing yourself!"

The portal master sniffed, composing himself. "You're right." He said. "I'm sorry about that."

"That's fine, Master Eon." Spyro said, happy things were on good terms with Master Eon again.

"Hey, where is everybody?" Cynder asked from behind Spyro. "Did they go on a mission?" The dragoness asked.

"Actually, yes, they did." Eon stated. "They went to-"

Before the portal master could speak, a massive blast of blue and white light came from behind him, startling everyone in the room. They all focused on the spot the blast had originated from, and were faced with a rather bizarre sight.

"Uhhh, Guyyys?" Spyro asked nervously as he saw his friends standing over the Doom Raiders, with Chompy Mage clinging onto Jet-Vac's leg and two blue ghosts hovering above them.

"Long story." Jet-Vac said simply, by the looks of it, it waas a really long story. "Also where have you been? We were looking for you, you know?"

Spyro looked over to Cynder on the sly. "Long story." He said, looking over to his friends.

"Well." Stealth Elf started. "I for one want to know why you guys-" She pointed at the ghosts accusingly. "Didn't tell us anything about this mission. You teleported us into some volcanic island in the Outlands to fight the Doom Raiders and the Knights of Solitude!"

"Hold on." Spyro stoped his friend. "You guys fought the Knights of Solitude? Did you see Cyrus?" Spyro asked eagerly, wanting to know more about what the malevolent dragon had been up to since he knocked Spyro out.

"We saw him alright." Eruptor said. "He was a nervous wreck. He was mumbling to himself and shaking and talking funny. It was really uncomfortable to watch."

"T-T-That's probably because h-h-he doesn't w-w-want you around his boss' l-l-l-lair." The chubby looking ghost said.

"Wait, what!?" The Skylanders yelled in unison.

"Yeaaaah." The second ghost spoke. "Cyrussss and hissss boss have a suuuper secret lair in the volcanoooo. It'ssss where the Knightsss go to ressst and where Cyrus conmmuuunes with his bossss." The ghost said.

"Again." Stealth Elf said. "How is it possible you didn't give us this information beforehand!?"

"T-T-They are quite p-p-pleasant most of the time." The chubby ghost said. "We d-d-didn't think they'd b-b-be and issue."

"Skylanders." Master Eon begun, making everyone, even Chompy Mage, who was still clinging to Jet-Vac's leg, focus on him. "If what you say is true, they we have possibly found the location of these despicable villains' lair, which means." He continued, a serious tone in his voice. "That if we act quickly and efficiently, we might finally be able to put a stop to this dreadful conflict."

"Really!?" Spyro asked enthusiastically, overjoyed to hear of an inkling of a chance to finally resolve this. "We could finish this just like that!?"

"Yes, young dragon." Eon said warmly to Spyro. "But only if done carefully. This would mean going into enemy territory, and facing off against the bulk of their forces." Eon said gravely. "The Knights of Solitude, Cyrus and apparently the true mastermind behind this all, will be there, garanteing one intense battle, and a dangerously narrow victory." He finished, making the Skylanders look at each other, remembering what Eon had said a few days ago, about this mastermind supposedly being more powerful than Strykore.

"That's why." Master Eon picked up. "We will be calling in a little help." The portal master said confidently, making the Skylanders curious as to what he meant. Eon then smirked and said:

"Does anyone want to make a wish?"

* * *

Cyrus was pacing nervously through a small platform on the slopes of the volcano. The platform was round and built from black stone. It had strange patterns on its surface that looked quite foreign in design to Cyrus.

The purple dragon was quite altered. Today not one, but two intruders had slipped through him. Now the Skylanders knew where the lair was, and the boss was not going to like that. "He's not going to like this at all." Cyrus said to himself.

"Cyyyyrussss." An abstract voice called.

Cyrus froze up. _"He's early."_ Cyrus noticed. _"Is that a good sign?"_ The dragon questioned. He decided to confirm by turning around to face his master. "Master, ho-" The dragon stopped himself, he noticed his boss wasn't actually here. In his master's stead, was a concentration of black mist that clustered together around two completely purple eyes, that were looking at Cyrus intently.

Cyrus swallowed and continued. "How was your day?" He tried aking as mellowly as he could.

"It was quite good actually!" His master replied. The sound that came from the mist was a strident doublevoice. It sounded disembodied and like metal pieces scraping against each other. It took all of Cyrus' willpower not to take his paws to block his ears from listening to his master's voice. "I finally finished that game I was playing! Crypt Rober, I believe it was called." The voice said, sharp squeaks accenting his cheerful voice. "But then I heard you call for me." The voice said, it's eyes looking severely at Cyrus, making him shrink. "What happened, boy? Did you get rid of the intruders?" Cyrus' master asked intently.

"N-No, sir." Cyrus got out in a meek voice, averting his master's eyes.

"No?" The voice asked. "You let them get away? You let the _Skylanders_ get away, knowing the location of my super secret volcano lair!?" The voice boomed , it's disembodied eyes showing pure rage, making Cyrus subconsciously cover his mark.

"Wait! This could be a good thing!" Cyrus said quickly, trying to calm his master down.

"A _good thing!?_ " His master shouted. "How is, my enemies knowing where my secret lair is, a _good thing!?_ "

"Because they'll come to you!" Cyrus said, closing his eyes still holding his mark tightly.

The voice paused, it's eyes showing interest. "What does that mean?" The voice asked, apparently interested in Cyrus' comment.

Cyrus opened his eyes and looked at his master, choosing his words very carefully. "The Skylanders will come here, yes." Cyrus started. " But, I've seen how strong they are. They are no match for you, sir, you could swat them away like flies." Cyrus said, trying to honey his master up.

By the expression in his master's eyes, Cyrus figured it was working, but then the voice spoke. "That's good and all, but what I want, are the Magic and Undead dragons, not some third rate Skylosers!" The voice said. "By now, I'm sure they've caught up with what we want with them. What makes you think they will come willingly to my turf?"

Cyrus began calming down, all of this was actually coming together pretty well. "I left quite an _impression,_ on the Magic one." Cyrus said. "When his friends tell him where I am, he wouldn't miss coming here for the world."

"And the Undead one?" Cyrus' master asked, his metallic voice sounding a little more convinced. "What about her?"

"Those two seem to have a sort of, connection." Cyrus said, remembering his interaction with the two dragons some time ago. "Wherever one of them goes, the other one seems to follow." Cyrus said, getting a somewhat satisfied look from his master. "Trust me sir, this will." Cyrus paused, looking for the right words. "Work itself out." He finished, giving his best plastic smile in an attempt to convince his boss.

"Hmmm," The voice said, sounding more like a metal pot resonating after falling on the ground than actual humming. "I _do_ like it when things work themselves out." He said. "And I _do_ like it when things come to _me_."He added, his eyes looked like he was thinking things through. "Alright! I'm sold, kiddo!" He said cheerfully, the glowing eyes reflecting his tone.

Cyrus gave a small sigh of relief. Things had worked out for him this time.

"But." Cyrus heard his master say. "If this little plan of yours doesn't work, boy." The voice said in a grim tone. making Cyrus flinch. " There will be, _consequences._ " The voice finished, looking maliciously at Cyrus.

The mark over Cyrus' eye glowed a faint red, causing the dragon to instinctively put both his paws over it, shaking and sweating slightly while looking down.

"Anyway!" The voice said in a happy voice, "I off to play the Sequel for Crypt Robber! The Shadow of the Crypt Robber!" The voice said gleefully. "See ya later kiddo!" The voice finished, as the concentration of mist dispersed suddenly with a loud poof, and Cyrus was left by himself.

Cyrus walked slowly to the edge of the round platform and looked at the horizon, a nervous look on his face as he spoke. "I really hope you come here, _friend_." Cyrus said to the wind. "Else, this is going to be really bad." The dragon paused as he grimaced, covered his red mark once again. "For both of us."

* * *

 _Author's notes_

 _Well, that took me a while. This is the longest one yet. Hope you enjoy! Also, thanks for all the reviews, they'lll cmoe in handy i'm sure, and they are very much apreciated! Keep on the look out for more chapters!_

\- I still don't own Skylanders Academy

\- Any guesses as to who "Help" will be on the next chapter? ;)

\- WARNING... WARNING...

BOSS BATTLE INCOMING


	6. Chapter 6

**Skylanders Academy: New Horizon**

by andresponceb2002

 **Chapter 6) Any Last Wishes?**

It was a quiet, pleasant day in the Falling Forest. The sound of the wind and falling leaves was soothing and the air was peaceful. There were usually a couple of greebles or wandering arkeyan robots around trying to cause trouble, but today was not the case. Today was a good day to just relax and let go. And that was exactly what Ninjini was planning on doing.

"Wow, it's almost too nice in here today." The genie said as she laid down on a pile of fallen leaves. "I don't think I've been this relaxed since I retired!" She said as she closed her eyes and smiled pleasantly, putting her arms behind her head and letting out a long breath. Ninjini felt her conscience drifted through the wall of sleep as the genie felt herself tire down and fall asleep.

Suddenly, Ninjini felt like a powerful call resonated in her head. She felt like she had been called somewhere, by someone. Someone important. She got got up from the pile of leaves and looked at the horizon. "Elf, dear?" She asked confused. Ninjini then saw as she began to glow out of nowhere. "Whoa, hey!" She exclaimed in bewilderment. Ninjini then glowed brighter and brighter until a loud pop sounded and everything went dark. Ninjini felt like her stomach dropped, as if she was riding a really extreme rollercoaster and had not waited long enough after eating. She felt like she was going to puke, and not being able to see did not help. Suddenly, Ninjini felt like she landed hard on a cold stone floor. She could feel her face pressed against the ground as she regained her barings slowly.

"Uhhh, guys? Are we sure we want _this,_ to help us?" Someone asked, their voice was gravely and sounded a little angry. "I mean she is retired, and this is supposed to be really serious business." The voice continued.

"Of course we want her help!" Another voice replied. It sounded very familiar to Ninjini. "She might be retired, but believe me, she has not lost her touch."

"I can testify for that myself." Ninjini said as she opened her eyes and began getting up. "But it's good to see that you still haven't lost faith in me Elf, dear." Ninjini said warmly as she stood upright and looked at the Skylanders, all standing around her in what Ninjini assumed was the Skylander Academy common room. She then focused on her beloved pupil, Stealth Elf who was holding her genie lamp in her arms as she looked up at Ninjini with a broad smile on her face.

"Ninjini!" Stealth Elf exclaimed as she jumped over and hugged her old tutor, who hugged back lovingly.

"Heya, dear" Ninjini said happily. "Did cha' miss me?"

"Of course I missed you." Stealth Elf replied warmly, as she let go of Ninjini. "But, we really need to talk." the elf continued in a more serious voice.

"What's wrong dear?" Ninjini asked concerned. "Is there a problem?"

"I'm afraid so, Ninjini." Someone else said.

Ninjini turned around to see Master Eon, or what Ninjini concluded was an ethereal projection of Master Eon floating behind her. He had his arms behind his back and had a serious expression on his face.

"Master Eon." Ninjini said in surprise. "It's been a long time, since I last saw you."

"Indeed." Master Eon replied, a small smile tugged at his serious expression. "And yet we meet again, under such unfriendly circumstances." He finished, his expresion hardening again.

"What's wrong?" Ninjini asked intently. "Did I miss something?"

"A lot actually." Stealth Elf said from behind her. The elf took a deep breath as she readied to explain things to her tutor "Recently, a bunch of evil dragons who call themselves, The Knights of Solitude, have been loose causing trouble." Stealth Elf said, making Ninjini focus on her. "They also seem to want to kidnap Spyro and Cynder." Ninjini saw as Stealth Elf gestured at the two dragons in the room. The purple one she remembered from the first time she had trained stealth Elf, but the violet dragoness, Cynder, was a new acquaintance.

"They want to kidnap them?" Ninjini asked concerned. "That's awful! What kind of villain would want something like that?"

"That's what we're trying to figure out." Stealth Elf picked up. "We think we found their secret lair and we think that with the right help-" She paused and looked up at Ninjini. "We might be able to bring them down."

"We are facing very powerful dark magic wielders." Master Eon continued. "They have very dangerous powers and a very malevolent determination to their crimes. As we stand now, I fear we are unable to defeat them all in head to head combat without risking the integrity of the Academy or the safety of the rest of the Skylanders by sending too many Skylanders to one place." The portal master said gravely, stroking his beard. "However, you Ninjini, are one of the legendary Giants, some of the most powerful Skylanders to ever take up the mantle. I am certain that with your help, we can succeed in this endeavor and finally bring a much awaited end to this conflict."

Ninjini was a little overwhelmed by the influx of new information, she backed up and glanced nervously between the Skylanders, unsure of what to do. "Hehehe, guys I think you skipped a little detail." She said in a meek voice. "I'm retired. I haven't fought any _powerful dark magic wielders_ in years! I don't even know if I can do it anymore." She finished in an ashamed voice, holding one of her arms and looking down.

"Ninjini." Stealth Elf began. "I know you think you're no longer able to do all the cool things you were able to do back in your prime." She said, making the gigant look over to her. "And if I were to guess, I'd say these villains think so too. But that's why the are gonna go down if you help us." She said confidently. "Because they'll be expecting the "Average" Ninjini, or the"Meh" Ninjini. They'll never see The _Great_ Ninjini coming." She said with a smile.

Ninjini felt herself smile at the Skylander's praise. "I don't know, dear." She said, glancing to her side. "This is a little much."

"Oh c'mon. This is nothing!" Stealth Elf said confidently. "You already took out all the Doom Raiders almost completely by yourself without a scratch! These freaky dragons are no match for you!"

"And besides." Ninjini heard someone say from behind her. She turned around to see the purple dragon Spyro looking up at her. "It's not like you're gonna be alone." He said. "We are all going to do this together because-" He paused and looked over to his friends, before speaking once again. "This is our job. We can't let these guys go around unchecked. We have to stop them, and we need your help to do it."

"I heard stories." Ninjini turned to the Skylander she remembered being called Jet-Vac. "Stories of how the Giants were the strongest Skylanders ever. Believe me, if those stories hold even a little truth to them, these scoundrels don't stand a chance if you help us."

Ninjini looked around the room, seeing all the Skylanders look up at her, believing in her. She just couldn't bring herself to let them, or Stealth Elf down. So she swelled up with pride and spoke in a determined voice. "Alright. If it's the Great Ninjini you want, it's the Great Ninjini you're gonna get!" She said as she conjured her Wishblades onto her hands and spun them dramatically. "Where do we need to go?"

"According to intel given to us by a couple of ghosts, indigenous to the area and apparently confirmed by the Skylanders.." Master Eon spoke. "The villains' lair is located in a volcanic island in the Outlands. There are a total of six Knights of Solitude, accompanied by another dragon called Cyrus, who appears to be their captain. But we have reasons to believe there is a higher-up involved, which is why we need a higher-up of our own." Eon finished.

"Well." Ninjini began. "Let's not keep them waiting. When do we leave?" She asked boldly.

"Sprocket is currently working on the Portal Gates in order to allow you to reach the Outlands" Eon said. "When she is done, you should be able to go there immediately and catch these villains by surprise."

"Alrights, sounds like a plan!" Eruptor said, eager to get some but kicking done. "I can't wait to get this over with."

"Hold on Eruptor." Eon said, puting one of his hands up, signaling Eruptor to listen. "You will be going into enemy territory against an evil mastermind we do not know, who not only has already proven themselves to be more adept at the dark arts than any foe we have seen, but also in command of a very dangerous group of servants. You must all be on guard at all times during this mision, for I fell that mistakes made here will be, much more costly than usual." Eon said gravely, making the Skylanders darken slightly.

"Alright." Ninjini said, an undaunted expression on her face. "When do we get the show started?"

* * *

Spyro was walking beside his friends and Ninjini as they approached the Academy Portal Gates. Spyro saw Sprocket moving some machinery around the portals and installing some parts with her huge wrench. Master Eon was following behind them. Spyro turned around and faced his tutor.

"Master Eon." Spyro began. "I need to know something before we leave." He said as he stopped and looked over to his tutor, who stopped as well and waited, curious to hear Spyro's doubts. "What's going to happen to Cyrus if we capture him today?"

Eon realised what Spyro meant by that. Bringing another purple dragon to justice would be something difficult to accept, for both of them. "I understand your concern, Spyro." Eon said. "However, we cannot ignore his evil actions. Cyrus might be a purple dragon, but he is most definitely not a hero." The portal master stated. "If you bring him to justice today, he will most likely be sent to Cloudcracker prison, along with the rest of the evil-doers of the Skylands."

"Well." Spyro started, not very energetically. "Purple dragon or not, as long as he does not hurt anyone else, I can live with that."

"Guys!" Someone called.

Spyro and Master Eon turned to see Sprocket waving for them to come over. She was standing over the Portal Gates in front of the rest of the Skylanders and Ninjini.

Sprocket gathered everyone around and looked like she was about "The upgrades I installed to the Portal Gates will allow you to teleport to anywhere in the Skylands instead of using platform destinations!" She announced proudly. "The tricky part was finding a way to bring you all back. Since the teleportation is no longer uses platforms, I had to come up with a way to be able to get you all back, regardless of where you might be as well."

"And how did you manage that?" Jet-Vac asked eagerly.

"Using _these_." Sprocket responded as she grabbed something from one of the pouches in her belt. It was a small badge. It had a ring of glowing blue energy around it's coppery center. "These are Relay Badges. While wearing one, the Portal Gates can lock onto their signal and teleport you back here!"

"That's ingenious!" Jet-Vac exclaimed. "How do they work?"

"Just place em over your chest, they'll sick on and teleport you back here with them." Sprocket explained. "Tap the badge twice to get called back and hold it down to release it." She proceeded to demonstrate by placing the badge she had just shown her friends on her chest. The small apparatus stuck to Sprocket steadily. She then tapped twice and, with a flash of light, she disappeared, followed by a second flash of light and reappeared on the Portal Gate.

"Now, there's a couple of things I should warn you about." She continued holding her badge down and causing it release, just as she had designed it to do. "These things work on signal. If you are all going into a volcano, there's a good chance they won't be able to function inside or near it. So just keep that in mind for any quick getaway plans." She said warningly. "Also, if a lot of people teleport back here at once, the signals might get scrambled or saturated, and cause you to teleport somewhere else entirely or not to teleport at all. So try to come back here in groups no bigger than three, okay?"

"Right, but what about the Knights of Solitude?" Pop Fizz spoke up. "Aren't we like, supposed to bring them back with us?"

"The badges can allow you to carry up to two other people with you." Sprocket said. "If you're close enough, or touching them, just tap the badge to bring all of you back here. There will be seven of you and eight of them, so you should be able to handle the extraction."

"Alright, sounds like these are some pretty nifty gadgets!" Eruptor said excitedly.

"So once we get there, what's the plan?" Stealth Elf asked Master Eon.

"You must apprehend the one responsible for all of this Skylanders." Eon said. "We have little information about our enemies, so your success will depend on your ability to think on your feet and anticipate any move these villains throw. Your mission, is to locate and enter the enemy lair and to capture the Knights of Solitude and their master at all costs."

"Right!" The Skylanders all agreed, ready for action.

"Then waste no time Skylanders." Master Eon said. "Put an end to this evil, before it's malevolent intent spreads!" He said, filling the Skylanders with determination.

With that, the Skylanders began to take their places three at a time on the Portal Gates platform as they placed their Relay Badges on their chests. Sprocket began typing some coordinates on a keyboard she had installed into the platform. The coordinates she had acquired were given to her by a couple of awkward-speaking geists the Skylanders had found who were living in some ruins in the island they wanted to get to. The first group was Eruptor, Ninjini and Stealth Elf. The second was Jet-Vac, Pop Fizz and Cynder.

And last, but not least, Spyro stepped onto the platform, badge ready. He took a deep breath as he braced for the Gates to send him away. Spyro's view was overtaken by white light as the Portal Gates took him from the Academy, through the Skylands, and to his destination in an instant. Spyro was then able to see again as he felt himself touch down on solid ground again. Spyro then looked around to see his friends.

"Wow, this place is bizarre" Spyro said out loud as he looked around the area.

He and his friends were standing in a large town square in what Spyro assumed was an abandoned city. The buildings all looked quite strange to Spyro and he was a little unnerved at the fact everything was covered in a layer of grey ash.

"Tell me about it." Spyro heard Cynder say. He turned to see what it was she was looking at. When he did, Spyro was faced with an imposing sight.

The dragoness was looking in awe a gargantuan volcano. It was releasing huge clouds of dark grey smoke that obstructed the sunlight all around the area. Unnatural blue lava fell slowly down its sides. When Spyro absorbed the impressive sight, he had his mouth hanging slightly open.

"Alright Skylanders." Ninjini spoke, pulling Spyro and the rest of the Skylanders´focus over to her. "Those Knights of Solitude jerks you told me about are up there somewhere, right?" She asked.

"According to our friends, Spooky and Gallant." Jet-Vac began. "They are indeed holed up somewhere in the mountain. However, _that_." Jet-Vac said, pointing at the huge volcano. "Is a very big mountain. It will take us a while to find the entrance by ourselves."

"That's not necessarily true." Cynder stated, a little smile tugging at her face.

"What do you mean?" Jet-Vac asked eagerly as he turned around to face Cynder.

"I have a special tracking power, remember?" She reminded her friend. "I can track down the best way to reach a specific place. So I just need to focus on the inside of the volcano. That way, we can find an entrance!"

"That is one useful power young lady!" Ninjini said excitedly.

"Thank you!" Cynder replied with a smile. "Now, just let me focus for a bit." She said, as she closed her eyes, making everyone quiet down and wait patiently. Cynder began to shift her head slightly, tilting it to a side and then the other, her face began straining up slightly, making her friends concerned.

She then opened her eyes suddenly, and breathed through her mouth, as if she was tiered up.

"Cynder, are you okay?" Spyro said worriedly, moving a little closer to the dragoness.

"I'm okay." She said mellowly as she composed herself, making Spyro give a quiet, relieved sigh. "I just have some bad news." Cynder said gravely.

"What's wrong?" Pop Fizz asked. "Are we gonna have to swan dive into the volcano?" He asked uneasily.

"Not exactly." Cynder responded. "There is a way inside the volcano." She began, swaying her head to her left. "Buuut it's not the only one." She finished, swaying her head to her right.

"What does that mean?" Stealth Elf asked.

"That place." Cynder began, pointing to the volcano. "Is a maze. I found at least ten different way inside that all stretch and connect with each other." She said, making her friends grimace. "We are all going to have to stay in a group and let me lead if we want to get to this wierd central chamber, which I'm guessing is the bad guys' lair, in one piece."

"That sounds fine by me!" Eruptor stated. "You seem cool headed enough to lead the way. Besides, if we are all together, those punks don't stand a chance!"

"Well then let's get moving, Skylanders!" Ninjini said boldly. "Let's not keep the bad guys waiting!"

* * *

The room was huge. The ceiling was held in place by rows of massive black pillars, lit dimly by braziers that emanated blue flames. A constant tapping, echoed across the room. There were three rapid taps, that each had a small pause between the next three.

Three taps, a pause, three taps, a pause, three taps…

Silence. Absolute and flattening as the echo of the last taps faded.

"Master?" A quiet, slightly raspy voice broke the silence. "Is something wrong?" Cyrus asked concerned.

Then, a voice answered. Disembodied, metallic and disturbing. A hint of malice beneath it's horrible resonance.

"They are here."

* * *

Stealth Elf was following Cynder as the dragoness led her and the Skylanders to one of the entrances to the volcano she had said was closest.

As they walked and got closer to the mountain, they noticed something odd about their Relay Badges. The glowing blue rim on the badges suddenly began to flicker, and as they got even closer, it disappeared completely, making the badges look rather dull.

"Must be what Sprocket warned us about." Jet-Vac said. "We should all be careful about how we do this from now on. We aren't getting any timeouts." He warned, making everyone even more focused on their task.

The Skylanders then began ascending up a slope on the volcano. Despite being really close to the strange blue lava that was streaming down slowly beside them, they didn't feel any increase in temperature, something they found really strange. However, when Eruptor tried to stick his hand in one of the streams in curiosity, he howled in pain as he waved his hand rapidly, as if trying to extinguish a flame.

"Guys! Do _not_ touch that stuff!" He warned loudly.

"Hard copy." Stealth Elf said in an unsurprised tone as she walked by Eruptor, who was blowing harshly at his hand.

"Guys!" Stealth Elf heard Cynder call. "Over here!"

The Skylanders rushed over to where Cynder was standing. When they met the dragoness, they found a what they assumed to be the entrance.

The tunnel was a perfect black, so pure the Skylanders could not see anything through it's opening. The opening was a crescent moon in shape. There was a black stone platform with strange carvings on its surface. The rim of the entrance was decorated grimly, with black stones and what looked like bones, unnerving the Skylanders slightly.

"What a nice decorator they must have." Spyro joked nervously.

"Alright." Cynder said determinately. "Is everyone ready?" She asked, as she approached the tunnel entrance.

The Skylanders looked at each other. This was going to be their greatest challenge yet. They were going to go up against the most evil they had ever seen, and honestly, once faced with it, that was a bit much to swallow. They all hesitated to speak, which made Cynder shrink a little herself.

Stealth Elf also was unsure of how capable she was. Would she really be able to get through this? Then, Stealth Elf felt as two large hands rested on her shoulders, holding her affectionately. She looked up to see Ninjini, smiling down at her proudly before speaking.

"They are ready." The genie said, not a single hint of doubt in her voice.

Hearing that, Stealth Elf was overwhelmed with courage. Her hero, the Great Ninjini, believed in her, and she believed in her friends. There was no way she was going to let her down. "Yeah, we're ready." Stealth Elf said as she looked down at Cynder, putting her brown bandana on and drawing her ninja daggers.

At this display, and Ninjini's words, the rest of the Skylanders composed themselves and were now looking ready to go on. Ready to give it their all.

"Alright then." Cynder replied. "Let's go guys!"

At that, Cynder entered the dark tunnel, followed closely by her friends and Ninjini.

Stealth Elf´s feet were beginning to hurt. The elf and her friends had been walking for what felt like hours. They had been following Cynder, who was leading them through a surprisingly intricate maze of black stone tunnels, with the help of Eruptor, who was using his faming body as a big lantern.

"Man! This place is huge!" Pop Fizz complained loudly, creating a huge echo, causing the Skylander flinch and lower his voice. "How much longer do you think we have to go?" He asked quietly.

"I'm not sure Pop." Cynder responded. "But we are definitely getting closer." She said confidently.

"Not to be rude or anything." Eruptor began, a little edge of rudeness in his voice. "But you said that twice in the last five minutes."

"I'm sorry Eruptor." The dragoness said. "But this place is pretty huge. However, we are definitely getting closer to the main chamber."

"Well alright." Eruptor said. "As long as we're, _getting closer_." He said rolling his eyes.

After a while of walking and taking turns through several forks in the tunnels, the Skylanders began to notice something strange. Through the darkness, a strange blue light shone on the walls. There were several veins of glowing blue ore, that ran through the dark rock of the walls like rivers. They got thicker and brighter as the Skylanders continued to advance through the tunnels, until they no longer needed Eruptor to shine the way.

"Wow." Spyro began. "Maybe they do have a nice decorator."

The Skylanders continued until they reached a strange, cavernous opening. The cave they now stood in, was rather large, so much so that Ninjini could fly with certain freedom across it. The ceiling and walls were all covered in the luminous blue veins, lighting the whole room and revealing five tunnel entrances, each one dark and uninviting in comparison the the chamber before them.

The Skylanders wandered across the room, spreading across and looking into the dark tunnels. Spyro was looking at the one in the far right, while Stealth Elf, Eruptor, Jet-Vac and Pop Fizz were clustered around the ones in the middle. Ninjini was still standing in the center of the room, worriedly watching over Stealth Elf as the green Skylander peeked her head into one of the tunnels.

"Where to now?" Jet-Vac asked.

"Through _that_ one." Cynder said, pointing at the tunnel on the far left. "Just through that one, there's a couple more turns before leading to the main chamber." She said.

"Alright everyone." Ninjini began, causing the Skylanders to focus on her. "From what you've told me, this is going to be tough. These guys sound like A-list baddies, so." She continued, conjuring her Wishblades. "We all stick together and we all work as one. For that, you all have to stop looking at me as The Great Ninjini, you have to see me as your partner, because that's how I will see you. If we do that, we can beat them." She said, making everyone fill up with determination. "If you can do that-" She paused and focused on Stealth Elf, who looked back at the Giant warmly. "-I'll be able to retire in peace, knowing someone greater than me has taken over." The genie finished, smiling caringly at Stealth Elf, who smiled back, moved by her hero's words.

"Alright then." Spyro said suddenly. "Let's do this team! Cynder,Lead the way!"

"You got it!" The dragoness replied boldly.

The Skylanders then followed Cynder through the last, dark stretches of the volcanic maze. They took a couple of turns until they reached another cavernous space. On it's far end, stood a large gate. It was made of a crystalline blue substance, and was adorned with strange carvings the Skylanders could not make anything out of. On each side of the gate, stood braziers made of black rock, each alight with strange blue flames,

"This is it." Cynder announced. "This is their lair."

"Okay." Ninjini began. "I think it's best if I lead from now on, dear." She said, moving in front of Cynder. "Everyone stay together, and stay behind me." She ordered, making the Skylanders all give her a nod before getting in battle positions. "Alright. Let's do this." She said as she pushed the heavy crystal gates open.

The Skylanders were then faced with a massive room. It's walls were a similar color to the cristaline gates, just of a darker shade. The floor was a deep black, like the rock from the tunnels. On the sides of the room, several huge pillars, made from a polished and elegantly carved variation of the black rock the Skylanders had seen, stretched up into the ceiling, the which the Skylanders noticed was covered with the glowing blue veins from earlier, making it seem like a stray night sky.

"Alright." Spyro said as he looked around the imposing room. "They really have a nice decorator."

"Yes actually, we do." A voice came from across the room. "His name is Craig, he is just a wonderful decorator. Would you like his contact information?"

The Skylanders frowned and got into battle positions. They already knew who the voice was. However, Ninjini was a little behind on the news, and spoke kindly. "Well if he works thike _this_ , then sure! I'd love to have him work on my place!"

"Ninjini!" Stealth Elf said through her teeth. "That's Cyrus, the Captain of The Knights of Solitude, remember?"

"Oh, he is?" Ninjini said in an embarrassed tone. "Oh, sorry dear, my bad." She apologised before getting into combat position as well.

"Cyrus." Spyro growled, looking around the room for the evil purple dragon.

"Oh hello, friend." Cyrus' voice sounded again, disembodied and leaving a long echo through the room. "How's the side? I didn't hurt you too bad did I?" He said mockingly.

Spyro bared his teeth and started shaking. Anger was coursing through his veins as the evil dragon spoke. "How about you show yourself?" Spyro tried asking as steadily as he could. "Don't you want to show your guests around your home?"

At that, the Skylanders saw a shadow move through the room. It shifted and deformed, the awkward lighting making it hard to track. But then, the shadow moved steadily, continuously getting smaller and smaller as the Skylanders' eyes followed it. Once the the shadow stopped moving, the Skylanders were left staying at a purple dragon on the far end of the room.

His wings were dragging behind him and his eyes had a tired look. He moved slowly, walking closer to the Skylanders as his venomous eyes, glistened in the partial darkness of the room. "It's not actually my home." The captain of the Knights of Solitude spoke in a quiet voice. "But I'd still be glad to show it to you. Because you are going to have to spend a long time here, I'm afraid."He said with a fake looking smile as his eyes glared disturbingly at Spyro.

Spyro had forgotten how looking into those eyes felt like. He took a step back, almost instinctively when Cyrus looked at him. The Skylander shaked slightly but steadied himself. He wasn't going to let Cyrus get to him again.

"I'm going to stop you right there, buddy." Ninjini said, raising one of her Wishblades, and making Cyrus shift his gaze to her. "You and your little gang of creeps are going to come with us." She stated. "And you aren't going to be kidnaping anyone else from no on, either."

"What makes you think you could do that?" Cyrus asked, a bemused tone in his voice. "You are now in my master's house, and I'm afraid _he_ is the only one who calls the shots here."

"Thaaaatssss riiiight!" A horrible voice boomed across the room. It sounded disembodied, sourceless. "And I'm afraid, I can't have you take my little henchman anywhere." The voice solidified slightly. It sounded like metal gears scraping against each other, and made the Skylanders cover their ears and wince in discomfort.

"I assume you're the boss, then?" Spyro asked, trying to tack down the source of the voice.

"Yup! That's me!" The voice confirmed.

Suddenly, a strange mess of abstract junk dropped loudly from the ceiling, startling the Skylanders, who jumped back in surprise. The lump of garbage looked weird. It was comprised of carved wooden parts, a cylindrical, spiky cage, some colorful rags and a lot of thick red string.

"Sorry." The voice apologised simply. "I tripped."

Then, the strange pieces began to shift and shuffle, seemingly piling up as some parts started floating unnaturally. Afterwards, the parts began to coordinate and assemble into a strange shape. The larger wooden part, that once not covered in the other mess, looked like a yellow mannequin torso floated in place while the rest of the parts assembled around it. The colorful rags, which were green orange and purple, connected to the waist using a clear blue rope as a sort of belt. The other wooden parts stuck to the sides of the torso, resembling shoulders. To the shoulders, the red string connected, leading to wooden mannequin hands. Finally, the creepy cage, slammed onto the top of the torso, and despite looking empty, once it did, a disgusting purple goo oozed out of the bottom of the cage, disgusting the Skylanders and connecting the cage to the torso and making it seem like a head.

After the parts assembled, forming an abstract humanoid shape, the empty cage began to release a cloud of thick, black smoke, thant clustered together around the cage. Then, from the dark smoke, too glowing eyes emerged. They were a pure purple color and seemed to glow through the bars of the cage, expressing abstract happiness.

The Skylanders now stood in front of a surreal looking villain, slightly bigger than Master Eon, and seemed to float idly off the ground, leaving it's colorful rags hanging down. It's hands, which were connected to its body by the red string, which floated strangely in the air as well, were posed awkwardly near the shape's midriff.

"That is one weird-looking bad guy." Pop Fizz stated as he took a step back from the strange villian.

"I'll take that as a compliment!" The villian spoke, it's voice still sounding disembodied, not apparently coming from the strange figure in front of the Skylanders. "I take it you are the Skylanders that have been giving Cyrus and my Knights trouble, yes?" The voice asked, no anger in it's metallic voice, rather amusement.

"You bet, weirdo." Spyro said, taking a step forward, refusing to be intimidated by the supposed mastermind behind this mess. Spyro tensed up in anticipation, he couldn't wait to get this guy to Cloudcracker prison.

"Hah!" The villian laughed suddenly. Taking its floating hands to what would have been it's belly. "Hahahaha, Ah, hahaha!" The strange villain's eyes showed joy as it laughed and laughed. The sound of it's laughter was reminiscent to metal cutlery falling to the ground.

"Ohhhhh, my boy!" The villian said, wheezing from his burst of laughter as he turned around to face Cyrus, who stood in place, smiling pleasantly. " _This_ , is what's been keeping you busy?" The villian said with disbelief, pointing at the Skylanders before turning around again.

"What do we have here, eh?" The villian asked derisively, looking at the Skylanders. "The original Angry Bird-" It said, looking at Jet-Vac. "An elf on the shelf-" It continued, looking at Stealth Elf. "Chipotle night barf-" It said, pointing at Eruptor "A blue fur ball-" It pointed at Pop FIzz. "A mutated purple aligator-" It said mockingly to Spyro. "One of the Monster High rejects-" He spat at Cynder. "And last but not least-" The figure said as it was about to finish it's cruel roast of the Skylanders. However, when the figure turned to face Ninjini, the last of its victims, the villian became paralyzed and gazed speechlessly at the Gigant.

"Well?" Ninjiji asked angrily. "Any more insults you wanna throw, pal?" She asked, raising one of her Wishblades at the villian.

The villian looked at Ninjini, not responding at all, confusing the offended Skylanders. But then it spoke, all the mirth in it's metallic voice suddenly gone. "Cyrus." It called quietly, making the purple dragon focus on his boss.

"Y-Yes, sir?" The evil purple dragon asked shakily.

"What is _she_ doing here?" The villian asked simply, pointing at Ninjini with one of it's wooden hands.

"She's a Skylander." Cyrus said quietly. "We were expecting them, right?" He continued, a little fear creeping into his voice.

Suddenly, one the strange villain's hands flew through the air, and grabbed Cyrus roughly by the neck, making the dragon choke and surprising the Skylanders. Then, the red string, which connected the villain's hand to its body, recoiled, dragging Cyrus, who had his head down, by the neck to his master's side.

" _That_." The villian said, lowering his head to Cyrus's level and letting go of the dragon's neck. "Is the Great Ninjini. One of the legendary Giants."

Cyrus looked up at the genie, a nervous look, of horrible anticipation on his eyes.

"You told me." The strange villian continued, it's metallic voice smeared with growing rage. "That we were going to have to deal with third rate Skylosers and my dragons, not one of the eight strongest Skylanders of all time!" It shouted, making Cyrus close his eyes and wince.

"I… I didn't k-know they could bring her here." The purple dragon said weakly, fear belittling his voice as he moved slowly to cover his red mark.

Spyro, who had remained silent during the exchange between the villains, felt a growing sense of dread building up inside of him. Something really bad was going to happen.

"You. Didn't. Know." The villian said slowly, steadily. "Well, I guess that means-" The villian paused, standing up, and making Cyrus compose himself a little. "That it wasn't your fault, then, wasn't it?." The villian said sarcastically, making Cyrus look up at him.

"Master?" The purple dragon said slowly, almost pleadingly.

Then, the strange looking villian, raised one of it's hands above it's cage-like head and made a fist, causing it to glow a dark red.

Then, the mark on Cyrus' forehead glowed the same color. The purple dragon's eyes went round from shock as he grasped his forehead and fell to the ground. A horrible scream of intense agony then came from the dragon's mouth, prolonged and blood-curling as the dragon's mark and his master's fist glowed the same bloody color.

Spyro had never had any cause to sympathize with the sarcastic purple dragon, but seeing him now, on the floor wailing in pain like Spyro couldn't imagine, made him feel no joy at all. It made him feel sorry.

Then, the strange villian released its fist, which stopped glowing and prompted the mark over Cyrus' left eye to do the same. At this, the purple dragon stopped screaming, breathing hard and shakily, still shaking on the floor while he covered his face with his paws, looking frail as small pained whimpers were coming from his throat.

The strange villian then slowly moved one of his hands over to Cyrus. It grasped the purple dragon by the back of his neck and lifted him to eye level with his master.

"We are going to have a looooong talk about this later, boy." The villian said maliciously at his henchman. "Get out. And take the Knights with you." It commanded, dropping Cyrus, who landed with a low thud on the ground. "This is going to be messy." It said sinisterly, as it moved to face the Skylanders.

Cyrus then started getting up, slowly and with his head down. He began to limp away from his master, not saying a word and not looking back before taking flight to the far end of the room, where another blue gate stood.

Spyro felt awful about what he had just seen and by the look on his friends faces, so did they. The sound of Cyrus' scream still resonated in their heads. The image of him, lying on the ground whimpering, persisted. Then, a thought appeared in Spyro's mind, out of pity for the purple dragon or out of hope for what it meant. _"Is he really evil on his own, or did this monster make him that way?"_ Spyro though, his feelings as to who his real enemy was, shifting in his mind. But Spyro's train of thought was interrupted by the horrible, disembodied sound of the villain's voice.

"Anyhoo!" The voice said, wholesomeness seamlessly appearing in it's voice, contrary to the rage it was smeared with when it was being directed at Cyrus. "I don't believe I've introduced myself. I already know all of your names, so it's only fair you know mine." It said cheerfully, completely baffling the SKylanders with how easily it changed moods.

"My name is Omen!" The villian introduced itself, with an exaggerated bow, exactly as the Skylanders remembered Cyrus doing when he introduced himself. "The true master of the Knights of Solitude."

"Well, _Omen_." Ninjini began, staring down at the villian. "You seem to be quite the rotten apple. You'll be coming with us to Cloudcracker prison, where you are going to stay for a very long time."

Omen stood in his place. The glowing eyes on his cage-like head, glowed maliciously through the smoke erupting from his head. "And if I don't feel like doing that?" It asked maliciously as it's hands began to glow an eerie purple color, prompting the Skylanders to get on guard and take battle positions.

"Then it means you were right." Ninjini began. "This _is_ going to get messy." She said, raising her Wishblades at Omen.

Omen's glowing eyes began to curl up, expressing a malicious joy. "You know." It started. "I'm starting to actually regret being so harsh on Cyrus just now." The villian continued as he looked at Ninjini. "This might actually be quite fun." It finished malevolently.

"I wouldn't count on that." Stealth Elf said, getting beside Ninjini and drawing her ninja daggers.

"Oh but I would, child." Omen replied sinisterly. "I rarely have any visitors in here. I'd be a shame for the only good thing to come out of Cyrus' mistakes to be undone so quickly." Omen continued, raising its hands above it's head. "So please try to stay alive for as loooong as you can."

Then, with a loud cracking noise, Omen rammed it's hands into the black floor, the red string that connected them to its body tensed up and glowing faintly.

"Skylanders, spread out!" Ninjini commanded as she flew off the ground.

The Skylanders did as Ninjini commanded. Spyro and Cynder took flight and the rest of the Skylanders spread across the room while Omen kept it's hands buried in the ground.

"Hmmm, I wonder which one should die first?" Omen asked himself. "Whichever one thinks their safest. That ought to teach them." It's said as it looked around the Skylanders, choosing a target. "You know what." Omen said. "You are the easiest one to catch, actually." The villian said, not specified to whom it was talking to, which made all the Skylanders tense up.

Suddenly, a dark wooden hand erupted from the ground near Jet-Vac. The senior Skylander was too late to react and failed to move in time. Despite being a fair distance away from the villain's body, the hand remained connected to it's wooden shoulder by a thick red string.

"Gotcha." Omen said maliciously.

"JV, watch out!" Spyro yelled.

But it was too late. Omen's hand gripped Jet-Vac by the neck, making the Skylander give a choked sound as he tried to get free. Then, the red string on Omen's hand, recoiled with surprising speed. As the hand returned to it's body, it slammed Jet-Vac head first into the floor, creating a loud impact which was so strong, the black floor cracked as the senior Skylander was slammed against it.

"Jet-Vac!" Pop Fizz cried when the impact came. He noticed that Jet-Vac's head was actually engraved into the rock, and that the Skylander was not moving. "No, no, no, Jet-Vac!" Pop Fizz cried again, rushing over to his fallen friend, frantically mixing potions.

"Welp. That's one down." Omen said maliciously. "Six to go!" The villain said as his hand erupted from the hole it had made in the ground and returned to him. "Who's next!"

"Hey!" Eruptor shouted. "No one hurts my friends!" The magma Skylander roared as he charged at Omen, flaming with rage.

"Eruptor wait!" Ninjini yelled, trying to stop the Skylander from a costly mistake. The genie then dived down and got between Eruptor and Omen, just before the two could brawl. "Remember what I said!" She told Eruptor, who was trying to push through Ninjini. "Don't lose control, Eruptor!"

"Listen to your friend, cranky." Omen said mockingly to Eruptor. "Wouldn't want to lose your head!"

From the floor behind Eruptor, Omen's second hand erupted, balled up into a fist and glowing with purple energy, about to hit the magma Skylander. But suddenly, with a movement so fast, the air whistled, the red string connecting Omen's hand to its body, was severed, causing the wooden hand to stop glowing and drop harmlessly to the ground.

Ninjini had swung one of her Wishblades behind Eruptor, in a swift and powerful move, she had severed Omen's hand and protected her fellow Skylander.

"Hey!" Omen shouted undignified as it retracted the severed red string through the ground. "It's against the rules to chop people's body parts off you cheater!"

"There's no rules to fighting you jerk!" Ninjini snapped back.

"Yu-huh!" Omen replied as he drew a grey book from behind his back using his remaining hand, labeled "The Rules of Fair Combat" in golden font. Then, Omen flipped a couple of pages through the book and stopped at "Chapter 10: No Chopping off body parts".

"See!" Omen said, showing Ninjini the book. "Right there!"

Meanwhile, Stealth Elf teleported behind Omen, ninja daggers at the ready as she dashed at the villian. When the elf got close to Omen, she teleported once again, slashing at the villian, teleported again and repeated her attack. The Skylander released a rapid flurry of attacks on Omen, who in surprise dropped his grey book and grunted in pain under Stealth Elf's blows.

Then, Stealth Elf teleported back, appearing at Ninjini's side. "Good job, Elf dear!" Ninjini congratulated her pupil. "Now it's my turn." She said, raising her Wishblades and flying towards the still, stunned Omen.

As Ninjin prepared to swing her weapons at the villian, it's body deconstructed suddenly, causing Ninjini's attack to pass harmesly through a pile of junk.

"Missed me!" Omen's disembodied voice sounded as it's body fell to the ground, avoiding Ninjini's attack. Then, the villain's body reassembled quickly, it's remaining hand tensed up and ready to deck Ninjini right in the face. The Giant was too close to the villain to dodge, so instead, she tried to use her Wishblades to block the rapidly incoming fist.

"Ninjini!" Stealth Elf cried as she saw her tutor about to be attacked.

Once Omen's fist connected with Ninjini's guard, a loud metallic impact, followed by a small shockwave came. The villain's hand had effectively been stopped, but the Wishblade that had allowed for this to happen was now bent back under the force of the villain's attack.

However, as Ninjini attempted to keep Omen's fist in place, she failed to notice as the red string from the villain's other arm flew through the air around her and tied itself around her chest and arms, restraining Ninjini as she attempted to struggle lose of the expandable red string that was tightening more and more around her.

"Well." Omen started. "One of the Legendary Giants, huh?" It said scoffingly at Ninjini. "What a disappointment." Omen finished as an intense yellow glow began to spread through the red string surrounding Ninjini. When the glow reached the genie, the sound of electricity crackling, followed by Ninjini's pained screams resonated across the massive room as the Giant was shocked into a blackout by Omen, who dropped Ninjini's now unmoving body to the black floor.

"Ninjini!" Stealth Elf cried as she watched her tutor defeated on the ground. Dread building up in her.

"And that's two." Omen said after a short sigh. "Five to go! Hey Purple!" Omen's voice called to Spyro. "You sure you don't just wanna come down here and help me put an end to this? If you come willingly, then it's not kidnapping!" The villain suggested wryly.

"I'd never help you!" Spyro shouted at the villian. "You are a monster! You're tormenting dragons and treating them like batteries just to do some crazy ritual! What in the Skylands makes you think I would help you!?" Spyro shouted in rage.

Omen looked a little shook by Spyros angry outburst and spoke in a meek voice. "Could we discuss it over a Crypt Robber match?" It said, pulling a video game controller from behind it's back.

That did it. Spyro had no patience for jerks who didn't take this kind of things seriously. Growling and with an intense look in his eyes, the purple dragon dived down from where he had been and released as big a fireball as he could at Omen, who hovered in place. Once the fireball struck Spyro rose over the villian again. As the smoke from his flames had not cleared, Spyro saw an opportunity.

"Guys, light him up!" Spyro shouted, as he dove down once again and released a second fireball.

At Spyro's command the Skylanders who were still on their feet released a flurry of attacks on the stunned villian. Eruptor fired several bolts of flames, Cynder released a huge stream of spectral lightning and as Spyro's own fireball landed from above. A thunderous noise came as all the attacks connected, creating a large cloud of black smoke around the target. And then there was silence.

"Did we get him?" Cynder asked as she flew above where Omen stood last.

Then, two wooden hands, instead of one, erupted from the dark smoke cloud moving at blinding speeds as the reached for Spyro and Cynder. The hands then grabbed the dragons by their tails and recoiled rapidly into the smoke, dragging the Skylanders into it with , several sound of wings flapping and struggling came from the dark smoke, like a fight was taking place in the mist. Then the struggle was followed by a long silence.

"Guys!" Eruptor shouted. "Guuuys!?" He called again, fright creeping into his voice as he called for his friends.

Then a voice sounded. "I thought I told you." The metallic voice spoke slowly as the smoke dispersed. "Chopping body parts off is _cheating_!"

As the smoke dispersed the Skylanders were faced with an impressive sight. Spyro and Cynder were both alright, backing away from the scene slowly side by side. At the middle of the scene stood Omen, a shining metal blade sticking out of it's chest and both of it's red strings severed.

"And I told you." Ninjini said in a quiet voice. "This was going to be messy." The genie finished, drawing her sword from the villain's chest causing it to slump to the ground. She then floated away and entered battle stance, a single Wishblade in hand. "Stealth Elf." Ninjini called. "You all need to leave." She said.

"What!?" Stealth Elf asked incredulous. "We can't leave! This guy is too strong for you alone!" She said.

"If you stay." Ninjini began. "He is going to kill all of us, and take Spyro and Cynder away. At least this way-" She said stretching out her hand and conjuring her genie bottle, which landed in her free hand. "You can get out of here in one piece."

"A courtesy you seem to deny _me_!" Omen's voice sounded, an undignified tone in it as the villian began to stand up, the red strings on it's shoulders stretching to reconnect with the villain's hands.

"Guys!" Pop Fizz's voice sounded. "Jet-Vac's in trouble!" He shouted. "I tried to make a healing potion, but he's in really bad shape!"

"Stealth Elf." Ninjini called her pupil. "You know what to do." She said, as she tossed her genie lamp over to Stealth Elf. "You have to protect your friends, just as I have to protect you."

Stealth Elf felt like a lump formed in her throat, her heart began to race. "I don't want to leave you." She said weakly.

Ninjini then turned to face Stealth Elf, a warm, carefree smile on her face. "You're the greatest ninja now, dear." She said, making Stealth Elf gasp. "You go make your own legend."

Stealth Elf then looked down at the purple adorned lamp she held in her arms. She closed her eyes in sorrow and rubbed the lamp with the side of her fist. "I wish, for my friends and I to return to Skylanders Academy." She said, a tear running down her face, caught by her bandana.

Ninjini smiled, a little relieved smile. "Your wish is my command. Break a leg dear." Then, Ninjini raised her free hand and snapped her fingers, a loud pop followed as the world around Stealth Elf turned white.

Sprocket was at the Academy common room with Master Eon and Kaossandra, who had just returned from delivering the Doom Raiders to Cloudcracker prison. The three of them were waiting for the Skylanders and Ninjini to return.

"I know this is supposed to be a difficult mission." Eon began. "But they are taking their time aren't they?" He asked nervously.

"They'll be fine." Kassandra said confidently. "Those kids are really tough and Ninjini will be with them all the way. There is no way a bunch of brainwashed deadbeats and their boss could beat them."

"Are you sure?" Eon asked. "Remember, we are talking about a foe more powerful than any we've seen before. What if one of them is captured? Or worse?" He asked.

Kaossandra looked like she was about to say something but, a loud popping sound which came from outside interrupted her.

"What was that?" Sprocket asked confused.

"Let's find out." Kaossandra said as she went to the Academy main gates to see what the sudden noise had been. She was followed closely by Eon and Sprocket.

Once Kaossandra opened the gates she was face with an unexpected scene. "Skylanders?" She asked.

"There back?" Sprocket followed up. "But the Portal Gates didn't trigger. How did you guys get here?" She asked her friends.

But, no answer came, the Skylanders were all glum and had their heads low. Except Pop Fizz, who was caring Jet-Vac, a distressed look on his face. "Help!" He shouted. "Jet-Vac is in trouble!"

"Oh, no." Master Eon said. He looked around and noticed something, something that made him fill up with dread. "Where is Ninjini?" Master Eon then looked at Stealth Elf, who was gripping the Giant's genie lamp tightly.

"She saved us." She said in a brittle voice, gripping the lamp tighter still. "She got us here, but she-" Stealth Elf stopped herself, the lump in her throat catching her voice before she could speak.

Eon however, didn't need to hear the rest. He knew what had happened, and he darkened and slumped his shoulders as he realized.

A great hero had died on this day.

Omen was breathing heavily. It had never remember straining itself so much in a single fight. _"She was quite the kicker isn't she?"_ It though to itself, it hadent had a fight like that in an immesurably long time. Omen was watching the volcanic island on which it's previous lair stood. The volcano had erupted full force after the collateral damage of Omen's battle with Ninjini and as such, the volcano had effectively destroyed Omen's lair, and now that the Skylanders knew where it was, it wasn't that important of a side effect anyway.

However, Omen was still angry, this whole mess had been completely unnecessary and entirely one person's fault.

"Cyrus." Omen said slowly. "Can you tell me, what's wrong with this picture?" It asked, pointing at the sight of the island, covered in volcanic debris. After not hearing a response from the dragon, Omen continued. "Because I think that my secret volcano lait being destroyed, me still not having my dragons _and_ all my Crypt Robber progress being deleted are not very good things for me." Omen finished, rage slowly bubbling in it's voice.

"I'm sorry." A weak, pleading voice came from behind Omen. "I'm sorry." The voice repeated beggingly.

Bur rather than make Omen feel pity, the beging made his rage tip over the edge.

" _Sorry_ , Doesn't cut it!" Omen belowed, balling one of his fists, making it glow dark red and activating it's spell.

Then, a scream of anguish and suffering came from behind Omen. The purple dragon behind Omen screamed and wailed in agony behind it's back. Then, Omen released it's spell, and the screaming stopped, replaced instead, by low, shaky whimpers.

"You disappoint me boy." Omen said plainly. "You are hands down _the_ best henchman I've ever had. You got me not four, not five but _six_ dragons in like, two weeks! That was incredible!" Omen said, honest praise in its voice. "But now, you've been slipping up. And do you want to know why?" Omen asked as it began to turn around. "Because you, Cyrus, are a coward and a lazy schmuck!" Omen said cruelly at the dragon curled up on the ground before it. "If you don't have to do something, chances are, you won't do it all." Omen finished, turning around to face his destroyed lair once again.

After a long breath, Omen spoke again. "I have to find myself a new lair. You will continue to hunt my dragons down, just that from now on, you get one Knight as backup. No more no less." Omen stated. "It's time to man up or shut up Cyrus, I've waited long enough for this to happen. Get me those dragons boy, and I'll leave you be. No more pain, no more guilt, just as you always wanted."

There was a small pause. The only sound that came was the sound of the volcano spewing ash and magma all over the island. But then, a small, raspy voice spoke.

"Yes, sir." The dragon said submissively. "Of course."

* * *

 _Author's Notes_

 _Well, there it is. Chapter six. This one took me a while to plan out, but here it is anyway. More chapters on the way!_

 _-_ I still don't own Skylanders Academy

-RIP Nijini (2012 -2018)

-What did you think about Omen, the final boss?


	7. Chapter 7

**Skylanders Academy: New Horizon**

by andresponceb2002

 **Chapter 7) The Journey to Winter Keep**

The sky was a clear blue. The sun was shining brightly and the clouds on the sky were thin. It was a beautiful day. A day one would usually spend outdoors, doing stuff with friends, with family and have a little fun. But even as the delightful view of the morning sky peeked through Stealth Elf's window, the Skylander was not in the slightest mood to "have fun".

The green elf was laying on her bed, looking emptily at the ceiling. She then shifted her head over to the small desk in the other side of her room. On that desk, were almost all of Stealth Elf's things. The golden bracelet she had given to Kaossandra, pictures of her and her friends, among other things. On any other day, looking at that desk would have made her feel better, because it was filed with such good memories. But recently, she had placed a new item on that table, and it made it so that Stealth Elf felt sadness more so than joy.

Near the top of the wooden desk, stood a purple lamp. It's strange shape covered with darker purple markings, glimmered in the light that reached it through the far away window.

The lamp, once belonged to Ninjini, the ninja-genie-giant and a close acquaintance and more than a friend to Stealth Elf. But recently, after the Skylanders had located The Knights of Solitude secret lair and asked for her help in stopping them, the legendary giant was faced with a foe too powerful even for her.

The true mastermind behind the Knights of Solitude and the one responsible for all of the Skylanders recent troubles. Omen, the world's most dangerous garbage man.

The awful creature was more powerful than what Stealth Elf had imagined. She remembered that Master Eon and Kaossandra warned her and the Skylanders that this guy was even more powerful than Strykore, who had been able to beat her and her friends, almost single handedly before. But this guy was able to do the same thing when there were even more Skylanders around, and wants more, managed to keep even Ninjini at bay at the same time.

When the might of the enemy was too much to handle, Ninjini had given Stealth Elf her genie bottle and told her to wish herself and her friends away before it was too late. But while Stealth Elf and her friends were able to escape, Ninjini was left to fight that monster by herself.

Stealth Elf felt a little lump form in her throat and like her eyes were getting watery. "Why did you do that?" She asked in a brittle voice. "Why did you fight him alone?"

" _You're the greatest ninja now, dear."_ Ninjini's voice sounded in Stealth Elf's head. _"Go make your own legend."_

Stealth Elf closed her eyes and felt like she was about to sob, but then someone knocked on her door and called for her.

"Elfy? You in there?" It was Eruptor, he spoke softly as he waited for an answer.

"Yes, Eruptor." Stealth Elf replied. "What's the matter?" She asked, trying to steady her voice as much as she could.

"Kaossandra wanted to talk to us." Eruptor answered. "She said it's important and that it's about the Knights of Solitude." He continued, making Stealth Elf's ears shoot up. "B-But if you don't feel alright, she told me you could sit this one out. You know, because of… what happened."

Stealth Elf hesitated. She didn't know how to feel. She was hurting because of Ninjini but she couldn't let that stop her from fulfilling her duties as a Skylander. So, following the advice she had given Spyro almost a year ago, she spoke up.

"I'm alright Eruptor." She said simply. "I'll be right there."

"You sure?" Eruptor asked concerned. "You really don't have to come if you don't want to."

"Don't worry, I can't just stop being a Skylander, right?" She said dodgingly.

"Well alright." Eruptor said, a hint of worry in his voice. "I'll see you at the common room then." The magma elemental finished as the sounds of his footsteps began to drift away as he went on his way to the Academy.

Stealth Efl stood up from her bed. She walked slowly over to her wooden desk, where she picked up her daggers. She looked at them in her hands, seeing her own reflection in the golden handles. She then looked up at the purple lamp, at Ninjini's lamp.

"I miss you." She said simply at the purple shape. "I really miss you, but… I know you wouldn't have wanted me to do this. To just wallow in a pity party while you were gone." She looked back at her daggers, her reflection now showing a more determined expression. "So, I'm going to do what you asked me." She said as she looked at the lamp once again, a small smile stretching across her face.

"I'm going to make my own legend."

* * *

The Skylanders were all standing in front of Eon's old desk. Even Jet-Vac, who had been hurt pretty bad by Omen during their fight against the twisted villian. Kaossandra was sitting behind it with a grave expression on her face. She had summoned the Skylanders over for a new mission briefing, but she hadn't said a word yet.

The sorcerer's then shifted her gaze over to Stealth Elf. She looked at her with softness and spoke with a matching tone. "Elfy, are you sure you're up for this?"

"Definitely." Stealth Elf said confidently. "She wouldn't have wanted me to stay down like this. And besides, I can't let Omen go around hurting anyone else." She finished.

Kaossandra gave her a look of concern, but didn't press further. Apparently she had some serious news. "Do you all know about the king of Dragon's Peak, Ramses?"

"Yeah, I've heard of him." Cynder spoke. "My dad doesn't like him much."

"Well he is having a celebration in Dragon's Peak." Kaossandra picked up. "It is supposed to be a really important event, so nothing can be out of place or go wrong. That's why he has moved a very dangerous prisoner from the Peak to a far away place, called Winter Keep."

"Okay, so when do the Knights of Solitude and hence _we,_ come in?" Spyro asked curiously.

Kaossandra then picked up a rusty holographic projector, that looked like a golden cinema projector aiming up, and placed it on the desk. "This, is a transmission that came through today." The sorceress stated as she clicked a button in the projector and a blue screen, rendered above it. "It came from the frost elves at Winter Keep and by the sound of it, this is a pretty serious situation."

Then, the Skylanders looked at the holographic screen, on which a blue skinned she-elf with lively green eyes and clad clad in grey iron and leather armor, stood with a strained expression on her face. Then, the transmission revved up and the message came through.

"This is Captain Avril of the Frost Elf Guard! We are under attack!" The elf spoke in a thick scottish accent and the sound of a huge battle which was blasting off-screen made it a little difficult to understand her. "As hard as it is to admit, we need backup! We have a really important prisoner being translated here and a bunch of Cyclops are raiding the whole place! If the prisoner get loose there's going to be trouble for a lot of people!" A loud blast then sounded, making Avril duck out off view from the screen. After a few seconds she stood up and looked at the screen again. "These cyclops are never this violent, someone else must be behind this." She said with a concerned tone. "We could really use a hand or two around here, so please, help a friend out will ya?" The elf said with a forced smile as the transmission came to and end.

The Skylanders were left in silence as the transmision ended and Kaossandra got the projector off the desk before speaking again. "The prisoner that everyone is so worried about is none other than the dragon king's little brother. A horrible dragon called Vathek. He is an Undead dragon and extremely evil. As such it is more than likely that he is a target for Omen and the Knights of Solitude. If what Avril here, says is true, its possible that Cyrus and his lackeys are involved in this mess somehow." Kaossandra stated. "Even if they are not behind this, it still means a lot of people are in danger, so you must go to Winter Keep and stop this can of worms from springing open."

"Alright then, when do we leave?" Eruptor asked boldly. "Thanks to Sprocket's Relay Badges we can get there in no time!" The magma Skylander said confidently.

"The Relay Badges work using coordinates." Kaossandra explained. "We would need to know the coordinates of Winter Keep to send you there using the portals. Sadly, the location of Winter Keep is only known to very few people." Kaossandra explained. "And the few people who we have available don't know how to use coordinates." She finished taking her hands to her temples.

Suddenly, a loud fog horn blasted across the air. The Skylanders then looked up to see a familiar sight. A large green ship floated above the Academy and after a familiar voice came from the deck, the Skylanders couldn't help but smile.

"Hey! Your Academy didn't hit my ship this time! Did you move it or something?" Flynn, the Captain of the Dread-Yacht shouted down merily at his friends, waving energetically.

"Oh, brother." Jet-Vac sighed as he waved back slowly. "This is going to be quite the wild ride isn't it?"

* * *

The Skylanders were on their way to the now parked Dread-Yacht. Flynn was walking down the stairs on his captain's cabin to meet his companions on the boat's deck.

"Heya folks! Long time no se!" Flynn said happily as he stretched his arms out to bear-hug the Skylander unlucky enough to get within arm's length.

"Hey Flynn!" Spyro greeted the mabu, flying overhead his friends as to avoid Flynn's crushing embrace. "Yeah, it's been too long. Are you sure you're up for this?"

"Buddy, I'm the greatest pilot in the Skylands." Flynn responded in an obvious voice. "If I wasn't ready for this I'd sell the Dread-Yacht!" He said. However he turned around and faced his ship's cabin speaking in a quiet voice. "I'm kidding baby." He whispered, finger gunning his own ship and acting as if no one was watching.

"Uhhh, Flynn?" Stealth Elf began awkwardly. "It is true you know how to get to Winter Keep, right?"

"Of course!" Flynn exclaimed, turning around suddenly. "I went there a long time ago. They have beautiful snow globes on sale there. Best souvenir I've ever bought!"

"Riiiight." Spyro said slowly. "Well, we are kind of in a hurry, so if we could get going as soon as possible, that would be great."

"Sure thing mi amigo." Flynn said smoothly as he began to make his way to his cabin. "Everyone, please step away from the sides of the ship and hold onto something." He said as he reached his steering wheel. "We are going full steam ahead to Winter Keep!"

Then, with a loud burst, the Dread-Yacht´s engine started up and yared the ship

forward, making the Skylanders stumble and fall on the metal plating of the deck. Spyro however, had stayed airborne and managed to avoid the little accident.

"Ah, same old Flynn." The purple dragon said with a small sigh. "Alright captain! Let's get going!" Spyro said as he landed on the deck, beside his friends as they got up slowly.

"Aye, aye!" Flynn cheered as he stepped on the gas and got the green ship moving, departing from the Academy. "To Winter Keep!"

* * *

The Dread-Yacht was a surprisingly fast ship. The Skylanders had heard time and time again from Flynn how the Dread-Yacht was the only ship fitting of the "greatest pilot in the Skylands", but they had already crossed a huge distance and the clouds that passed by flew behind them in seconds. However the sky was getting darker. Nighttime was slowly approaching as the sun began to edge to the horizon.

Jet-Vac was looking around the ship, watching over his friends as they moved across the deck. Jet-Vac, who was standing near the captain's cabin could hear as Flynn hummed to himself, and the senior Skylander figured the mabu captain was trying to come up with even more words that rhymed with "Flynn" for his little song.

Then, Jet-Vac noticed that Stealth Elf was sitting down far away from the rest of the gang, looking away at the horizon. While Spyro was flying around Eruptor, probably trying to get the magma elemental to blow up or something and while Pop Fizz and Cynder were watching their friend's little show with amusement, Stealth Elf looked a little left out.

Jet-Vac then walked over to Stealth Elf from across the deck. Once he got near the elf, he sat down beside her and tried to talk warmly. "Hey there, is something wrong?" Jet-Vac instantly regretted asking that and felt a little foolish for doing it. He knew something was wrong. She had lost her idol to a maniacal villian after all.

"No, Jet-Vac." Stealth Elf replied quickly, not looking at Jet-Vac, keeping her eyes in the horizon. "I'm fine, but thanks for asking."

"Are you sure?" Jet-Vac asked concerned. "You were very close with Ninjini. I can only imagine what it must have felt like to loose someone like that." The senior Skylander said compassionately.

"Look JV." Stealth Elf began, turning around and facing Jet-Vac. "I am sad about Ninjini. I miss her, and the way that she-" Stealth Elf cut herself off. "Look, me feeling bad about myself is _"a"_ not going to help anyone and _"b"_ not what Ninjini would have wanted." She said steadily, surprising Jet-Vac. "She told me… She told me _I_ am the greatest ninja now Jet-Vac, I just can't let her down like this."

Jet-Vac was speechless. He had no idea this is how Stealth Elf felt, that she could be this determined about something. He could only bring himself to say: "Wow." Nothing more, and nothing less came out of the senior Skylander's mouth.

Stealth Elf giggled shortly. Apparently she had stunned her feathery friend.

Then, Spyro's voice sounded. "Man, it's getting dark around here." The dragon said, noticing the setting sun and darkening sky. "Flynn?" Spyro called. "How much longer to Winter Keep?"

"Oh, boy." Flynn began. "Winter Keep is really far away pal, like, _really_ far away. Even my baby going full speed will take almost a day to get there."

"A _day!_ " Spyro exclaimed. "Flynn those people need our help _now!_ "

"I know buddy but-" Flynn paused, gesturing at his ship. "Even the greatest ship in the Skylands, in the hands of the greatest pilot in the Skylands has its limits. Don't worry though." He said. "Those Frost Elves are pretty tough. I bet they could hold off these cyclopses any other day. And besides, we are definitely getting closer." The mabu captain said with a smile as he looked forth.

Spyro then felt a wave of cold flush over him. His shivered and hugged himself as he got used to the sudden cold. The purple dragon looked around to see some small islands covered with a thin coat of white snow. He also that his friends had done the exact same thing as him. Apparently the cold had hit them pretty hard too.

"What's the matter?" Eruptor asked confused. "Did you guys find a cold spot on the ship or something?" The magma Skylanders asked, not seemingly affected by the temperature drop.

"C-Can't you f-f-feel the cold dude?" Pop Fizz asked, his teeth chattering as he hugged himself. Apparently the little blue Skylander was having a really tough time with the chilly air.

"What cold?" Eruptor asked honestly. "I feel fine."

"Of course you do." Jet-Vac said, his knees shaking slightly. "You're made of hot magma. It's like you're your own heater."

"Oh cool!" Eruptor said gleefully as he looked at himself. "My own heater."

"Everyone." Flynn called, making the Skylanders look over to him. "The sun is getting pretty low, and we are still a fair distance away from Winter Keep." He spoke in his deep voice intonating certain words. "So! since none of you guys have the raw, olympian leves of willpower to stay awake through the night _and_ don't have a sweet, winter jacket like mine-" The mabu let go of the steering wheel to gesture at his brown jacket. "I think it's best if you all get tuckered in."

Now that Flynn mentioned it, Spyro was feeling a little drowsy. Perhaps the cold had zapped some of his energy.

"There's plenty of room below deck for you guys." Flynn continued. "I think there's three guest rooms with two beds each, so-" The captain said, shrugging and taking the steering wheel once again. "I guess you guys better start talking _arrangements_."

* * *

Spyro was standing in the hall of the Dread-Yacht's lower deck. He was standing beside his fellow Skylanders as they were all ready to discuss arrangements. The Skylanders had all looked at each of the three rooms that were in the lower deck and now, they were all standing around a metal bucket which Jet-Vac had found in one of the rooms.

"Guys do we really need to do this?" Spyro asked as he glanced around his friends. "I mean, I really don't mind any of you, so can't we all-"

"Shhh!" Jet-Vac silenced Spyro quickly, surprising the young dragon. "I have already made arrangements as to deciding who will share rooms with who." Jet-Vac stated as he drew his vac gun. "These-" He ejected a stack of small paper sheets. "Are all the possible combinations of room-sharing partners. Written on each paper is a specific combination of three pairs of names. Each pair is circled out and show clearly." Jet-Vac continued. "I will now shuffle these papers and afterwards draw one of them. The set of pairings in the paper will be the pairing we will take when sharing rooms, understood?"

"This seems unnecessarily complicated JV." Spyro said. "And it looks like you put a little too much effort into it." He said, noticing the width of the stack of paper sheets Jet-Vac had in his hands.

"Just humor him." Eruptor whispered to Spyro. "You know how he likes to have everything neatly arranged."

"Yeah alright." Spyro conceded. "Let's just get it over with."

"Alright." Jet-Vac began shuffling the sheets of paper elegantly, like a playing deck. After a few seconds of shuffling, the senior Skylander drew a sheet from the top of his little deck, the Skylanders leaned forward as Jet-Vac began to read outloud.

"The pairings are as follows." Jet-Vac began. "Stealth Elf and Eruptor." He paused as the two Skylanders walked over to each other.

"We call dibs on this room!" Eruptor shouted as he pointed to the room on the end of the hallway.

"That seems fair." Jet-Vac said simply. "Off you go, you two." He ordered as he gestured to the two Skylanders' room.

The two did as Jet-Vac said, crossing the hallway and entering their room, before Jet-Vac continued calling out names. "The next pair is: Me and Pop Fizz." He said.

"Yay! Friend!" Pop Fizz said as he hugged Jet-Vac's leg.

"Well I guess you know that means you two are the only ones who are left." Jet-Vac told Spyro and Cynder. "And well, I've taken a liking to this room-" He pointed to the room in the middle of the hallway. "It has really nice carpeting." He said simply. "Alright, see you later chaps." He then walked slowly to his room while Pop Fizz still was clinging to his leg.

After Jet-Vac closed the door of his room behind him, Spyro was left alone with Cynder in the hallway, with only one room left to share. Spyro looked over to Cynder, who was looking away, fidgeting with her paws.

"I guess this is our room." Spyro said nervously pointing at the door closest to the stairway up to the main deck. He felt like his face was getting a little hot.

"Y-Yeah, that's the one." Cynder said, still looking away from Spyro.

Spyro then walked over to the door and awung it open. The room was small but cozy. There was a single round window and a wooden table on the end of the room as well as a cupboard that seemed to be very well crafted. There were also indeed two beds. They each had a pillow and white covers. However, they seemed to be a little large.

A strange thought crossed Spyro's mind. _"I think they are big enough for two people. If they got_ really _cl-"_ Spyro then shook his head wildly, interrupting his own thoughts. Okay, now his face felt really hot. He had no idea why he was acting this way and Cynder seemed to notice. She seemed a little concerned.

"Dibs on the right one!" Spyro said a little loudly, trying to get some heat off him as he started to walk over to his bed. He noticed that the room was a little cold. He shivered slightly as he moved to his bed. Once laying down he saw that the light switch to the room was located on the wall beside his bed.

Cynder then slowly walked over to her bed and layed down, curling her tail in front of her resting her head on it. She also covered herself with her wings, as if trying not to look over to her friend. "Good night!" She said giggling nervously.

"G-Good night." Spyro replied as he used his tail to flick the light switch. Afterwards, the room was covered in darkness, lit only by the moonlight coming from the window on the far wall of the room.

Then Spyro rested his head on his bed's pillow and closed his eyes. Spyro felt cold. The room was really chilly and Spyro could feel himself shiver. He waited and waited. He tried counting sheep and emptying his mind, trying desperately to cross the wall of sleep, but failed. Spyro then curled up beneath his bed's covers. The white blanket was thin, and barely did anything to help Spyro heat up. The purple dragon felt like it had been whole minutes of him shuffling in his bed, trying to keep himself warm, while also trying to be quiet enough as to not disturb Cynder, who had remained very silent since Spyro turned the lights off. _"Maybe this way I'll tire myself to sleep"_ Spyro thought to himself sarcastically as he moved his tail under the thin covers.

"Spyro?" Cynder's voice spoke. It was quiet and soft, like she wasn't sure if Spyro was awake.

"Yeah?" Spyro answered, almost in a whisper. He couldn't tell where Cynder was since his eyes were still closed.

"It's really cold in here." Cynder's voice said. "These covers really aren't doing anything, so." She paused, as if she was running what she was going to say through her mind. "Do you- Could I-" She stammered, her voice shaky before she managed to get her sentence out. "Do you think I could sleep with you?"

Spyro's eyes opened suddenly and his heart skipped a beat when he heard those words. He didn't know how to react to that. "I… I guess? If you want to." He said, not sure of what to do.

Then, Spyro heard something like blankets shifting, followed by a small thud. Then, a couple of steps, accented by small creaks in the floor, began to sound, closer and closer to Spyro. The purple dragon then edged his body over to the wall his bed was against, trying to make as much room for Cynder as he could. After a few seconds, Spyro felt as added weight was being put on his bed's mattress, he then felt as the tip of one of Cynder's wings brushed against his back, before the dragoness let her body plop down on the mattress beside Spyro.

"Are okay with this?" Cynder asked nervously. "It definitely feels better but it's still pretty cold." She said, shifting slightly beside Spyro, edging just a little bit closer to him.

Spyro then lifted his head and looked over to Cynder. The dragoness was laying down, belly down on her little side of the bed shaking, slightly but visibly. Apparently, she really was cold. Spyro felt like he wanted to do something, anything to help, he didn't know why but almost by second nature, he stretched one of his wings above her and covered her with it, presing it softly against her body.

She tensed up slightly when Spyro did this, which made him worry and lift his wing slightly. But then, she loosened up again, and to Spyro's surprise let out a small relieved sigh, cueing him to continue.

"That's much better that these sheets." Cynder said mellowly as she curled up beneath Spyro's wing.

But Spyro felt like Cynder was a little far away for him to reach. So, he stretched out his arm and placed his paw on Cynder's side. She gasped when she felt Spyro's paw on her scales, but then, Spyro began to pull, gently but steadily, drawing Cynder closer to him.

When he was finished, Spyro could fell Cynder's scales' press against his. They felt cold at first, but they slowly began to warm up. He was holding her really close, really tight, still covering her with his wing.

"Spyro?" Cynder began, a sleepy tone in her voice.

"Yeah?" Spyro replied drowsily.

"Thank you." Cynder said softly, nuzzling Spyro's heck with her sout before resting her head in the crook of his neck. Afterwards, she stood still, deeply asleep.

Warmth then started spreading through Spyro's body, slowly form where his body pressed against Cynder's. He felt himself smile, even as he closed his eyes once again. The warm, tender feeling of holding his friend so close to him, overwhelmed him and finally, he drifted into a peaceful sleep.

* * *

Spyro was in full, absolute darkness. He felt paralyzed, unable to move. Under normal circumstances, Spyro would have felt frightened or distressed, but it wasn't the case. Despite not being able to see or move, he felt safe. A comforting warmth covered his body, putting him at ease.

Then a voice, male and energetic sounded through the darkness. "Oh that's a good one. I really like that one!" The voice said. "You're so good at picking names."

"What a nice thing for you to say." A second voice sounded. This one was female, silvery and pleasant. "I just hope you're just as good at picking them because-" The voice paused. "You get to name the second one."

The first voice gasped and then spoke excitedly. "Oh, wow. I-I just-" Excitement was making the voice stamer causing the second voice to giggle. "Okay, okay." The first voice steadied itself. "I've been workshoping this one. You tell me if it's any good. Don't want him getting picked on or anything."

"Of course." The second voice said warmly.

"Alright, how do you feel about-"

* * *

Spyro's eyes opened slowly. He felt lightheaded and drowsy.

" _Again with those voices?"_ Spyro thought to himself, remembering vage details from his dream. _"Why do I keep hearing them? Who are they?"_ Spyro wondered. His mind was a little sluggish, not quite awake yet.

Then, Spyro felt something bump into side, making his focus shift. He turned his head slowly to where the bump had come from. Once he did, he couldn't help but smile, and move on from what he was thinking about.

Cynder was laying beside him, still peacefully asleep beneath Spyro's wing. She had squirmed slightly to her side, which made her bump into Spyro. The violet dragoness was breathing lightly as her head rested over her forelegs.

" _I can't disturb that."_ Spyro said to himself. _"I'll just give her five more minutes."_ He concluded, as he began to lower his head and slowly close his eyes again.

Suddenly a loud, almost deafening fog horn blasted through the air, yarring Spyro awake and making give a surprised yelp and making him stand up suddenly.

"Woah, what was that!" Cynder said, now standing up and fully awake.

Spyro couldn't help but feel a little angry that Cynder was woken up so rudely. But he kept it to himself.

The answer to Cynder's question came through an intercom. "Hello Sky Dudes, this is your awesome captain speaking." Flynn's voice announced merily. "We are now arriving at Winter Keep! And I gotta be honest, It's not as pretty as I remember."

After that, Spyro felt as the whole Dread-Yacht shook, knocking him into the wall and making Cynder stumble off the narrow bed.

"We've got some company everyone." Flynn stated. "So either hold on to something or get to the main deck, cuz things are about to get hairy." At that, the ship turned sharply to the side.

Spyro then rushed over to the room's door and swung it open. Once in the hallway he saw as his friends were also leaving their rooms, rushing to the main deck to see what the ruckus was.

"What do you think that was about?" Eruptor asked out loud as he made his way to the stairway up, his fellow Skylanders infront of him.

As the six heroes reached the top deck, they came to a sudden stop. The cold air was strangely enough not as bad as before, despite the Dread-Yacht being in the middle of a huge archipelago of snow-covered islands. The islands were a blueish grey and some of them seemed small frozen lakes. Farther in the distance, stood an impressive town. The houses were made of a curious pearl-looking material and copper, and ornamented with gold patterns and the tusks of great beasts.

Suddenly, the Skylanders were tumbling to their sides, for the ship had been struck again by a great force. They turned their heads over to where they had felt the impact.

"I guess that's company?" Pop Fizz guessed, pointing in front of him.

On an island to the left of the Dread-Yacht was a crowd of Cyclops. They were all carrying weapons, like pickaxes, maces and spears, making them look like a sort of war party. They all looked rather different, some of them wearing fur jackets, others blue and white wizard robes and a few were clad in very spiky armor. There were tall and short and different color members in the crowd, but one feature that all of them shared was a huge, round bloodshot eye that had a red slit instead of a black pupil that took almost all of the creatures face. Two pointed fangs poked out of the cyclops jaws which were so close to their giant eyeballs they looked like lower eyelids.

"I think that's a solid guess, Pop." Spyro said as he took flight, getting ready for an intense battle.

And then, almost as if to confirm the Skylanders' suspicion a line of five wizard-looking cyclops, that each had overgrown magnifying glasses in their hands. Then, the monsters placed their magnifying glasses in front of their eyes, which began glowing a bright red. Afterwards, each cyclop released a beam of orange energy that once connected with their magnifying glasses, traveled at incredible speeds and crashed against the Dread-Yacht's hull, shaking the ship once again.

"Guys!" Flynn called. "Those one-eyed punks are hurting the paint job! Let's teach them a lesson!"

"You said it captain!" Stealth Elf said, drawing her daggers and getting ready for a fight.

Then, Flynn stirred the Dread-Yacht over to the large island where the cyclop war party was located. "Boom!" He shouted in a heroic tone as he slammed the ship's hull into the island, sending the cyclops in the front lines sprawling back and making the rest of the tiny army shuffle nervously and bump into each other.

Then, the Skylanders jumped off the ship and onto the snowy island. They all charged at the still recovering cyclops and released their attacks on their enemies. Spyro and Cynder took flight above the fray and released their breath attacks on the cyclops while their friends battled a group of pickaxe wielding enemies.

As the Skylanders combined efforts, swinging daggers, throwing potions and firing blasts of fire, wind and lightning the one eyed creatures were being thinned out. and some of then even began retreating.

Stealth Elf dodged an orange beam fired by a wizard-looking cyclops in the back of the battlefield by teleporting to her side quickly. She then teleported above the cyclop and dive-kicked it in the head, knocking out and into the ground.

Pop Fizz launched an orange potion at three spear-wielding enemies that were charging at him. Once the potion struck one of the cyclops in the chest, it explodes violently and sent the other two blasting off.

After a while the cyclop ranks were thinned out to three cyclops. The little ones had all either been defeated or simply ran away. The last three looked a lot stronger than the rest though. They were all burlier and had much cooler looking weapons and armor than the smaller cyclops. One in particular was singularly intimidating.

He was the biggest one of the three remaining cyclops and looked quite distinct. While the rest of the cyclops had green or blue skin hues, this one had a really sinister pale purple skin tone. His teeth looked like really sharp flint needles and his round eye was dyed a very dark pink instead of red and the vertical slit glowed an eree white. His armor was similar to that of his companions, but it had a large glowing purple rock, sticking out of it's chest plate. The armor was also decorated with cruel looking spikes and skulls on the shoulder pads. He also had a black helmet that had two metal horns around a glowing purple rock that floated strangely between the horns. It looked similar to the one that was sticking out of the cyclop's chest.

The intimidating cyclop was wielding a large warhammer as a weapon. The head was made of a large ,blunt purple crystal which also seemed to be made of the same rock as the handle. His weapon also seemed to match the other pieces on the cyclop's armor.

"I suppose he is in charge." Eruptor guessed, taking a step away from the purple cyclop.

"That's right!" The cyclop confirmed. "I am Enumat! The leader of the One Eye Legion!" He introduced himself, his voice sounded gravely and rough. "And you are on my way." he said lifting his hammer and catching it with his free hand.

"Well you're little legion attacked us first, pal." Spyro began. "If anything it's your own fault we're in your way." He said smugly.

Enumat seemed to work what Spyro had just said through his mind. He glanced over to his left and furrowed his brow. "Yeah… I guess you're right." He said slowly, making Spyro resist an urge to facepalm. "Well I guess that means I'll have to clean up my own mess then." The cyclop said maliciously as he picked up his hammer. Get em boys!" He ordered his two underlings.

At their boss' command, the two smaller cyclops charged at the Skylanders, their maces raised above their heads ready to swing them down on the Skylanders.

Jet-Vac was the first to react. He used his vac gun to release a powerful current of air, which stopped the large cyclops in their tracks. At this, Pop Fizz launched two potions at the cyclops which burst into clouds of smoke, which made the cyclops cough roughly as the grey mist enveloped them. Then. Stealth Elf teleported into the mist could and after a few moments and the sounds of punches and kicks being thrown, the smoke dispersed, revealing Stealth Elf standing on top of the now unconscious cyclops.

"Yeah! Why to go Elfy!" Eruptor cheered.

"Come on guys, we rehearsed this!" Enumat yelled at his unconscious lackeys. "Forget this, I'll crush you all myself!" He threatened as he raised his large weapon and charged at Stealth Elf.

"Elf, watch out!" Pop Fizz warned.

Thanks to her friend's warning and with fast reflexes, Stealth Elf managed to teleport away at the last second, before the large cyclop's hammer slammed against her. She retreated back to her friends, who had al clustered together and were now about to face down Enumat.

"Are you sure you want to fight all of us friend?" Jet-Vac asked challengingly. "Because I have to say, six Skylanders mean pretty bad odds." He said, aiming his vac gun at Enumat.

"Ha! You think these are bad odds!?" Enumat said, a malevolent look flashed in his dark pink eye. "I've fought _chompies_ tougher looking than you! I've faced off against Gear Golems barehanded! Do you really think I would be afraid of six losers!?"

"And what about the Frost Elf Guard?" A female voice with a thick scottish accent asked boldly from behind the Skylanders.

The Skylanders and Enumat as well turned around to see where the voice had come from. When they did, they were faced with a large host of blue skinned elves, clad in gray armor and wielding icy weapons. In front of the group stood a she-elf. Her energetic green eyes made the Skylanders recognize her as Avril.

"What's the hold up tough guy? Frozen up are we?" Avril taunted Enumat, who had stayed silent until then.

"Okay." Enumat began. "I'm tough, but this-" He gestured at the many heroes in front of him, leaving him hopelessly outnumbered. "This is just cheating." He stated stepping back. "Live to fight another day I guess. Later losers!" Enumat shouted, running to the edge and then jumping off the island the battle had taken place on surprising the Skylanders.

"Did he just..:?" Jet-Vac began slowly.

"Oh yeah." Avril interjected as she approached the Skylanders. "He does that a lot. It's his _dramatic exit_." She said mockingly, quoting with her hands.

"Well, I guess he is the one responsible for all of this trouble?" Jet-Vac guessed.

"He used to be." Avril responded. "But something tells me there's been a slight change in management in the One-Eyed Legion." She said.

"What makes you think that?" Stealth Elf asked.

"Enumat has always been a brash fellow." Avril explained. "But he never comes to these raids himself. He always sends his little guys to do the work for him. He thinks it makes him a better boss." She said. "Also their attacks have become a lot more intense since that prisioner got moved over here, the evil-looking dragon."

"They've gotten more active since you got Vathek here?" Stealth Elf questioned. "Why? What do those cyclops want with him?"

"I told you." Avril said. "I don't think they actually want the dragon. Someone else does, someone pulling at their strings."

Spyro darkened slightly. He had an idea of who this little puppet master might be. "Cyrus." He hissed.

"You know their new boss?" Avril asked, a curious edge in her voice.

"It's a long story." Spyro answered simply, remembering his warped feelings toward the sarcastic jerk of a purple dragon. "But if I'm right, it's really important that these people don't get their hands on your prisoner." Spyro warned.

"Well, with my guard-" Avril said, gesturing toward her fellow elves. "And with your help, those creeps don't stand a chance!"

"That's the spirit!" Jet-Vac cheered. "I think we should all head to your town hall and create a formal plan of defence to make sure those pesky cyclops dont get their hands on their little prize."

"Well alright!" Avril agreed. "Let's get going then, Enumat will probably get another raid party ready soon, so we need to hurry!" She said, sprinting toward the great town in the distance as her troops followed her, leaving the Skylanders behind.

"Wait! You're really fast!" Jet-Vac shouted as he began to run after the frost elf.

"Yeah, and some of us have short legs!" Eruptor and Pop Fizz complained in unison before joining the chase.

Stealth Elf simply teleported away. leaving Spyro and Cynder as the only ones behind in the snowy island.

"We should get going." Cynder said, a little eager to leave. "We have to be ready in case they come back, so…" She motioned to leave and looked like she was about to take off.

"Wait." Spyro said quickly, making Cynder stop. "I wanted to say something." He said, glancing away.

"Really?" Cynder asked. "What did you want to say?"

Spyro was about to answer, but a voice sounded before he could speak. "Yeah pal, what did you wanna say?"

Spyro turned around and looked over his head to see Flynn, standing on the Dread-Yacht, looking down on the two dragons. Spyro then felt his face get really hot before answering in an unnecessarily loud tone. "Good morning! I wanted to say good morning, yeah." He said, giggling nervously afterwards.

"Ah, Spyro." Flynn began. "I knew you were a gentleman the moment I met you. Keep up the good manners kid, they make the man." Flynn said supportively, giving the purple dragon a thumbs up. "Well. I gotta get to fixing up the Dread-Yacht. Those one eyed punks really did a number on the paint. See ya!" He said before disappearing into the Dread-Yacht's deck.

Spyro then let out a long sigh, relieved Flynn had revealed himself when he did rather than latter. He then turned around to see Cynder, still standing in place, covering her face with her paws.

"I think I should go." Cynder said through her paws.

"Yeah, me too." Spyro replied awkwardly, scratching the back of his head and glancing away.

Then, both dragons took flight, an embarrassing silence hung over them as they headed to the exact same place.

* * *

Enumat walked slowly through the Great Hall. It was decorated with stuffed beasts and stone statues carved by his fellow cyclops. The hall was lit with braziers that held large orange flames. The ceiling was made out of furs and skins, that kept the cold and snow away.

The large cyclop was now infront of the stone throne, ornamented with skulls and tusks. The throne was located in such a place that the light from the braziers couldn't reach it, leaving the seat of the throne shrouded in darkness.

Enumat couldn't help but growl. It was his seat, his throne. And yet, someone else was in it. "We found some trouble on our way to the Keep." Enumat reported. "They called themselves, Skylanders."

"They're here already?" Enumat's new boss asked, his quiet raspy voice echoing slightly through the hall. "Someone must have contacted them."

"Are they going to keep getting in the way?" Enumat questioned. "I have enough trouble with that pest Avril and her frost elf guard as it is."

"They will keep on getting in the way." The voice answered. "But it won't matter. Because this time I have you." Enumat's boss said maliciously as he leaned forward, revealing himself.

"Get everyone ready." Cyrus commanded. "We are going to have ourselves a snowball fight."

* * *

 _Author's Notes_

 _Well, Chapter seven. Already more than halfway there. (Thirteen is an odd number, dummy.) Anyhoo. More chapters on the way!_

\- I still don't own Skylanders Academy

\- Thoughts on Enumat, the Dark Cyclop? He's going to be a little more... Present later on.


	8. Chapter 8

**Skylanders Academy: New Horizon**

by andresponceb2002

 **Chapter 8) The Battle for Winter Keep**

The Skylanders were standing in a large circular room accompanied by Avril, the captain of the Frost Elf Guard. The walls were made of dark, beautifully carved wood and held in place with golden nails. The tusks of great beasts decorated the circular room, pointing inwards toward the center of the room, rather menacingly.

In the middle of the room, was a hole. It was round and covered by dark metal bars. Inside of the hole, which looked rather deep, was a body of water. It bubbled, loudly and incessantly, as if something was stirring in its depths. That, combined with the sinister pale blue glow that shone weakly through the water and the ghostly moans that emanated from it, accompanied by the louder bubbling sound coming from the water, made the Skylanders get goosebumps.

"So." Jet-Vac started, swallowing hard before continuing. "That's Vathek?"

"Yup." Avril confirmed. "We dumped him down there, our safest little cell. You'd think him being turned to stone would make things easier for us right?" Avril continued. "But no. This creeper's mere presence is dangerous. He rotted away the wood and rusted away the metal from our other cells. He even scared away a bunch of the guards keeping watch over him. And he's literally encased in stone!" Avril exclaimed.

"Man." Eruptor began, looking down at the bubbling pit that made up Vathek's cell. "I'm really grateful I didn't get to meet this guy when he wasen't petrified."

"That makes two of us friend." Avril said. "This is one _baaaad_ seed." She said, peeking down at the malevolent dragon beneath the dark water.

"If this is who Cyrus is trying to catch now." Spyro started. "I'd say there could be a good chance for him to have joined up with the Knights of Solitude willingly."

"Heck, from what I've heard, he might have a shoot at taking over as their captain!" Pop Fizz said shakily.

"That's exactly why, we can't let Cyrus and his new one eyed friends get their claws on this creep." Spyro said, determined not to let his enemies, current and future from completing their malevolent goal. "So, Avril. What should we expect from Enumat and his goons?"

"Well the One-Eyed Legion is made up of, about a hundred and thirty soldiers." Avril stated. "They have icicle cannons, ice breakers and of course Enumat himself." She listed down. "That creepy-looking, one-eyed freak is a lot tougher than he let himself seem when you met him." Avril warned. "I saw him poke a rock to pieces once."

" _Poke_ , a rock to pieces?" Cynder asked confused.

"Yup. He said he only needed one finger to show he could be, "Annoying and deadly at the same time". And to his credit, he succeeded." Avril finished.

"Alright, so what do we have going for us?" Stealth Elf asked, trying to get some information.

"Well, we have you six." Avril said cheerfully. "And that green ship of yours. We also have my Guard, but, counting me, we're fifty people." Avril finished, deflating a little bit. "But hey! You guys are Skylanders! You can handle a couple of cyclops, right?"

"If by a couple." Eruptor started. "You mean a _hundred_ , you might be asking a little too much."

"Come now, Eruptor!" Jet-Vac began. "We've seen worse odds. I say, that with proper planning and some good teamwork, we can take these one-eyed troublemakers in a yiffy!"

"But remember." Spyro began, a somber tone in his voice. "We also might have to deal with Cyrus." He warned. "We can't let our guard down around him, and if he is here, chances are at least one of the Knights of Solitude is here as well."

The Skylanders al darkened up, a worried silence, interrupted only by the bubbling coming from Vathek's cell, loomed over them. The odds seemed to only keep getting worse.

"We can't give up though." Spyro picked up, making everyone focus on him. "We're Skylanders. Our job is to stop evil, however hard that might be." He said. "If Cyrus and his allies get this… _thing_ -" He continued, pointing down at the petrified dragon beneath the bubbling waters. "Then they get one step closer to winning and who knows how many people will get hurt if that happens. Knowing that these are the kinds of steaks we're dealing with, I just can't let myself give up." The purple dragon finished, a determined look in his fiery red eyes.

Afterwards, the Skylanders stood silent, impressed with Spyro's speech.

"Well said, lad." Jet-Vac said slowly. "Eon would have been proud." He finished with a proud smile and a slow nod.

"You said it buddy." Eruptor agreed, an excited grin spreading through his face and little flames sprouting on his back. "Now I'm all hyped up for this! Who else is ready to kick some evil butt!?"

"Hold on pal." Spyro interjected, holding one of his paws up at his friend. "We need a plan for this. We can't just freestyle this sort of thing." He warned.

"I guess that means you have a plan?" Stealth Elf asked curiously.

Spyro grinned confidently. "I guess you could say that."

* * *

Cyrus was standing beside Enumat. The purple dragon and large cyclop were looking down from a snow covered hill upon the whole bulk of the One-Eyed Legion, getting ready for their attack on Winter Keep.

"Are you sure this little plan of yours will work?" Enumat asked Cyrus, a disdainful edge in his gravelly voice. "It sounds awfully complicated."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Cyrus began. "Is the second step one too many for you to handle?" The purple dragon asked in a sarcastic tone, making the large armor clad cyclop give an angry growl. "This is a little more complex than piling all of you troops in one place and brute forcing your way through. You need a strategy for this kind of thing." Cyrus explained, trying mildly to hide his frustration.

"What wrong with just, _Kill them all_?" Enumat asked, offended. "It's straight to the chase and easy to remember!"

"You know." Cyrus began, taking one of his paws to his chin, emulating deep though. "If only you hadn't done that same plan over and over, having it fail _so_ spectacularly every time." He continued, putting his paw down. "I would be asking the same thing."

Enumat looked like he wanted to choke Cyrus. His large dark pink eye was furrowed with rage and his fists were clenched awfully tight. But he held himself in place. "You're just lucky you've got those creepy flames, kid." The cyclop said. "Else, I'd crush you."

Cyrus looked at Enumat, and unimpressed expression on his face. Then he bared his fangs and through his teeth, the purple dragon leaned forward quickly and released a small burst of green and black flames that rapidly dispersed, but were enough to make the hulking cyclop jump back, give a little yelp and put his arms up in defence.

"Remember your place, one-eye." Cyrus said cruelly, trying his best not to let the pain in his throat seep into his voice. "Or I'll remind you."

"Okay, okay boss." Enumat said submissively, backing away slowly. "I was just playing with ya. I'll go get the guys ready." With that, Enumat turned around and began running down the hill to his troops.

After the large cyclop was far away enough, Cyrus let out a rough breath, a small wisp of black smoke escaping from his mouth as he took one of his paws to rub his throat. "This idiot will be my making or my undoing." He told himself, still rubbing his throat. "Guess we'll just have to wait and see."

* * *

The Sky was dyed a clear, snowy blue. Clouds were thick and drifted slowly over Winter Keep. The sun was shining through the dense clouds, illuminating the future battlefield.

Stealth Elf was walking beside Avril. The two she-elves were walking down a snow covered stairway that led to a massive wall made of thick, blue ice which surrounded the center of Winter Keep; an imposing bastion in the center of which, Vathek was being held. There was a small snow-covered field between the bastion and the ice barrier, dotted with patrolling frost elves. There were also a coupe more elves patrolling the wall and keeping watch. Stealth Elf and Avril walked past some of them.

"So this is where this is going to happen." Stealth Elf said, contemplating the future battleground.

"We will try to hold them off out here." Avril stated, pointing at the large wall. "With your help, it should be no problem. Enumat is not a very good strategist. He'll just send everyone to attack a single front and hope for the best."

"I'm feeling he's an all brawn no brains kind of guy?" Stealth Elf asked jokingly.

"Definitely. That big eye of his takes up all the space!" Avril joked back.

The two eves had a short laugh, a calm before the coming storm. They soon composed themselves, however. And Avril continued explaining their battle plan.

"If for some miracle Enumat punches through our outer wall." Avril started up, continuing her walk through the icy structure and prompting Stealth Elf to follow her. "Vathek is locked up in the lowest dungeon in the bastion, which is guarded by my fellow elves and your Skylander friends. The first gate to enter the bastion in made of pearlstone, and I doubt those one-eyed baddies have anything to break something like that anyway."

"Alright!" Stealth Elf said, cheering up about the odds of this battle. "And with the Dread-Yacht giving us air superiority and with your help, we should be able to outmaneuver the One-Eye Legion and win this thing!"

"You said it sister!" Avril cheered, putting her hand up and cueing both elves to high-five. "I'll go do some security checks, you keep your eyes on _that_ bridge!" Avril said, pointing at a massive snow-covered stone bridge which led to a large clearing before the bastion wall. It was connected to a large island before the one Winter Keep was located on.

"If they are going to attack us, it will be through there." Avril stated while she began to descend down some stairs on the wall to the field on her way to the bastion.

Stealth Elf then looked over to the stone bridge. She took a deep breath and focused. This was going to be tough, this was going to be her chance. As she looked down at her daggers, she promised herself she wouldn't fail today.

* * *

Eruptor was leaning into the wall on the hallway he was guarding. It was made of similar wood to the chamber Vathek was being held, which was laying behind them, sealed behind a large door of what Eruptor remembered Avril calling pearlstone.

The magma Skylander was a little cranky he got guard duty inside the bastion while Stealth Elf, Spyro and Cynder got to see all the action outside. He expressed this by grumbling to himself and crossing his arms.

"Come now Eruptor." Jet-Vac said from across the torch lit hallway. "Just because we might not get to see as much action as the rest of the gang doesn't mean the job Spyro gave us is any less important." The senior Skylander said, trying to cheer his friend up.

"I personally don't mind staying down here." Pop Fizz said. The blue skylander was sitting down, mixing potions and putting certain mixtures into a larger beaker. "At least this place has air conditioning."

"Beyond that." Jet-Vac picked up. " We are the safety net. If things get out of control outside, we are the last line of defence. And as such, we hold a huge responsibility."

"I get that." Eruptor growled. "But why does that take three of us? Wouldn't it be better if we all were up there fighting those punks off?" Eruptor said, pointing upwards.

"If things get out of control." Jet-Vac began. "If one of them gets through us up there and they get Vathek, manage to get around us unnoticed through all the chaos and they run away, then all that fighting would have been for nothing. They would have won, as simple as that."

Eruptor ran those words through his head. Everything Jet-Vac had said made sense to him. So he calmed down, but did not cheer up. He simply leaned back into the wall in silence.

"Alright." Jet-Vac began. "Let hope we don't need call this whole thing that close. In any case, I firmly believe Spyro's plan will work. So, let's just focus on the moment for now."

* * *

Spyro was looking over the edge of the Dread-Yacht's starboard side. He was looking down at the thick clouds beneath the large green ship. Everything looked and sounded so peaceful form all the way up here. It was hard for him to believe there was going to be a huge battle here soon.

"Heya kiddo!" Spyro heard a loud, merry voice shout, interrupting the serenity of the moment.

"Heya, Flynn." Spyro greeted back, trying to sound as welcoming as possible. "Any news?"

"Yup." Flynn stated as he descended to the deck of the Dread-Yacht to greet Spyro. Up close and personal. "My baby is fully functional and ready for whatever you can throw at it."

"Great." Spyro said energetically. "Then everything is in place. Let's just hope we can win this."

"Don't worry my little purple friend." Flynn began, bumping Spyro's shoulder with his fist. "I have complete faith in you and your friends. And besides you've got _me_ to help you!"

Spyro gave a small chuckle. He was never really ready for Flynn's whimsical ego would make him say or do. "Sure thing captain." He said with a little smile.

Then, Spyro looked over his shoulder behind Flynn. He saw as a dragon approached the ship quickly, her violet scales allowed Spyro to recognize her. "Cynder!" He called his friend. He had sent Cynder off to do a little scouting to see when the One-Eye Legion would be coming. Her early return could only mean bad news.

"They're coming!" Cynder announced. "That's a lot of cyclops!" She followed up as she landed on the Dread-Yacht's deck beside Spyro and Flynn.

"Alright. Flynn?" Spyro turned to his mabu friend. "Put us into position." He ordered.

"Yeees, sir!" Flynn said with a salute as he went of to his cabin in order to pilot his ship.

"Let's hope this works." Spyro said to himself, looking down the side of the ship once again, anticipation tensing him up.

"Hey." Cynder began warmy, getting beside Spyro. "We can do this."

Spyro looked over to Cynder and smiled at his friend. He was still tense from all that was going through his mind about what was about to happen, but he managed to smile nonetheless. "Yeah, we can do this." He said. "Together."

Cynder smiled back and nodded. "Together."

* * *

Enumat marched at the front lines of his legion as the marched to Winter Keep. Their soldiers and siege weapons, organized loosely behind Enumat. Cyrus was walking beside him, his wings dragging behind his back, with his head hanging low and a tired look in his eyes.

" _How is this guy bossing me around?"_ Enumat asked himself.

Then, almost as if he had heard what Enumat had just said. Cyrus lifted his head and glared at Enumat. Once the large cyclop met those horrible green things, he remembered, a small shiver running down his spine.

" _Yeah, that's why."_ He told himself.

Cyrus then looked forward. "We're almost there." He said in his quiet voice, making Enumat look ahead as well.

Once he did, Enumat was staring at a sight he had seen so many times, it was no longer as breathtaking as it should. The great Ice Barrier of Winter Keep. All the dents and cracks his troops had made on it were still there, calling Enumat back to better days, where he could raize this place his own way, instead to having to listen to some snarky purple lizard.

"So." Enumat began. "Any last minute reminders of the plan?" He asked, trying to disimulate he had totally forgotten about it. "You know, in case you changed it and didn't tell me."

Cyrus let out an exasperated sigh as he began to explain his plan. "Your forces are going to attack the outside of the Wall as usual. That will make them focus on your troops while you-" He gestured at Enumat with his paw. "Sneak inside the bastion and get me the dragon locked up in their dungeons."

"Ok but how will I get in there?" Enumat asked confused. "I'm not the stealthy type."

"No kidding." Cyrus snapped. "As I was about to say, you will be using a little help from a friend of mine to get inside." The purple dragon explained.

"You have friends?" Enumat asked in shock. " _You_ have _friends_?"

"My _associate_." Cyrus corrected, an irritated tone in his voice. "Will get you in, mostly unnoticed. I trust you can handle the few frost elves inside the bastion easily enough?"

"Are you kidding?" Enumat began proudly. "I could crush all of the Frost Elf Guard by myself!" He claimed boldy. _"If only they all lined up neatly."_ He added for himself.

"Well. It's time to prove that." Cyrus said as he came to a sudden stop, cueing Enumat and by extension the rest of the One-Eye Legion to do the same. "We're here."

The cyclop army was standing on a large, snow-covered field before the imposing wall of ice that separated them from their objective.

"Go to the back of the ranks." Cyrus commanded. "You'll meet my associate there. You'll know who he is when you see him."

"What are you going to do?" Enumat asked as he lifted his head to see the top of the wall.

"My part." Cyrus stated. "I'm going to draw their attention to me."

"And how are you going to do that?" Enumat asked confused. "You're just one dude."

Cyrus looked over to Enumat with a sinister smile, which freaked him out a little bit. "You told me something about that wall. That it has stood for a hundred years, right?" The purple dragon asked.

"Y-Yeah?" Enumat answered shakily.

Then, turning his head to face the icy structure, Cyrus spoke. "In that case, let's just say, I'm going to make some history."

* * *

Stealth Elf was standing beside Avril on top of the ice barrier. She looked down to see the One-Eye Legion's forces. There were cyclops of all kinds. Green and blue, mages and brawlers, wielding pickaxes or maces. Large, blue mortar-looking warmachines amidst them.

"That's all of them." Avril began. "That's their entire army. They must really want that dragon."

"Yeah." Stealth Elf agreed, still a little taken back by the war party before her.

Then, Stealth Elf's eyes wandered downward, to the front of the mass of angry one-eyed baddies, and she spoted an unpleasantly familiar acquaintance. His dark purple scales and cruel gold horns made him stand out of the crowd with ease.

"There he is." Stealth Elf stated, pointing down at the purple dragon seemingly leading the cyclop forces. "That's Cyrus."

"The nasty looking dragon down there?" Avril asked as she peeked over the wall's railing to get a better view. "He looks like he needs a nap."

"Hello there!" Cyrus shouted from below the elves.

Even from all the way up from where she was standing, Stealth Elf could see that familiar fake smile on the purple dragon's face. She could feel herself frown. She hated that forced, plastic smile.

"I think you all have something I want in there!" Cyrus shouted. "Could you be so kind as to bring it to me? That way no one has to get hurt!" The purple dragon proposed.

Stealth Elf then heard as if the dragon added something, it was a lot quieter, so she guessed it was for himself, but her acute hearing let her decipher a vage guess of what he had said. _"Especially not me."_

"We ain't going to give you anything, creep!" Avril yelled. "So you can take your one-eyed crowd back to where they came from! They've already tried dozens of times to get here, so you might as well take a hint and give up!" Avril said confidently. This caused the rest of the frost elves guarding the wall to give a cheer and raise their blue weapons.

Cyrus did not look very impressed, however. The purple dragon's fake smile had vanished, which was something Stealth Elf guessed was a bad sign.

"Avril." Stealth Elf called her friend. "Don't underestimate that guy." She warned. A memory, dark and unpleasant, of Cyrus fighting both Spyro and Cynder with relative ease and defeating the Undead dragon king Malefor in a single blow crossed Stealth Elf's mind, making her worry.

"What's wrong?" Avril asked, her confidence unaffected. "What's he gonna do? Destroy the great ice wall?"

At that, Stealth Elf felt as if Avril had unintentionally jinxed them. She looked down at Cyrus, who had walked closer and closer to the wall, oddly, he had taken one cyclop from the crowd with him. A little green runt who had his pickaxe dragging behind him.

Then, Stealth Elf watched in horror as the evil purple dragon stood on his hind legs. Cyrus looked like he took a deep breath. As he did, the six symmetrical black gashes on his chest began glowing a poisonous green. Cyrus seamed hold hold the flames in, charging them up and causing the markings on his chest to glow even brighter. Then with a hideous roar, of agony and rage, Cyrus released a steam of green and black flames that crashed against the ice wall.

Stealth Elf, Avril and the rest of the elves on the wall exclaimed as the ground beneath them shook. "Woah! Those are some powerful flames!" Avril cried as she stumbled, trying to keep her balance.

After a few seconds the shaking stopped and the elves regained balance. Stealth Elf however, rushed to the edge of the wall and looked down at Cyrus again, a feeling of dread growing in her mind as an eerie silence now hung over the air.

"What happened?" Avril asked concerned as she joined Stealth Elf. "What did he do?"

Both elves looked down at where Cyrus last stood. The purple dragon was on all fours again, but he looked awful. He looked like he was tensed up and shaking. His eyes were round and glassy and his mouth was hanging open, wisps of dark smoke were streaming out it's sides. The evil dragons looked like he was breathing hard.

Then, small cyclop that stood beside Cyrus looked a little distressed. It walked over to Cyrus, who had remained in his place and poked his shoulder, as if to see if he was alright.

Then, faster than the poor runt could react, Cyrus turned around and lunged at him. Stealth Elf gasped and watched in horror as Cyrus took a ravenous bite out of his underling, the dragon's jaws surrounding the little cyclop's left shoulder as the purple dragon held him in place. The little creature gave out a pained scream, short and shrill before the color slowly drained from his skin and his large eye closed slowly.

Then, Cyrus seemed to release the little cyclop. The now limp creature dropped to the snow, laying down motionless.

"Ahhh. Much better." Cyrus sighed with relief, unfazed after taking his own henchman's life. He turned around and spoke, licking his chapped lips with his black forked tongue before speaking. "Well gentlemen, I think you all know what to do." He said, gesturing at the ice wall while smiling sinisterly.

That made Stealth Elf shiver, as if something really bad had just happened. But when Stealth Elf looked directly down the ice wall, her stomach really dropped. There was now a huge hole, wide enough for a fire viper to stick their head through.

And then, taking the message, with a thunderous war cry, the One-Eyed Legion began to charge through the snowy field at the giant hole in Winter Keep's defence. They rushed past Cyrus, who had remained in his place, with a smug smirk on his face as he looked up at Stealth Elf.

"Everyone! The wall has been breached!" Avril shouted, rushing down the stairs to the field between the bastion and the breached wall. "Take defensive positions! Don't let them get to the bastion!"

At Avril's command, the frost elves in the field assembled into defensive linings, drawing their weapons and taking up defensive postures. They held swords in one hand and shields in the other, both tools made of a well-carved metallic blue substance. That complemented their dark gray armor.

Meanwhile, the first cyclops had gotten through the hole in the wall. They roared and flung their weapons in the air as they charged at the frost elf formations between them and the Winter Keep bastion. Though most of the cyclops remained on the other side of the wall, tending to and defending their blue mortars while aiming them at the bastion.

Stealth Elf figured those were siege weapons that were going to shift the tide of battle in the enemy's favor. She couldn't have that. So, Stealth Elf pulled up her bandana and drew her daggers. She then closed her eyes, focusing. The Skylander then took a leap of faith off the ice wall, diving gracefully down it's side and just when she was about to land against the ground, she teleported, disappearing in a small green burst of smoke, before reappearing above a pickaxe wielding cyclop. She then landed on his head, knocking him out before jumping on another nearby cyclop's head, then repeating the process until she reached the central area of the One-Eyed Legion's bulk, where their siege weapons were at.

Stealth Elf noticed that there were four mage-looking cyclops standing on a circular platform around the blue mortar's barril. They seemed to be casting some sort of spell on large, jagged ice shards, which were being loaded into the mortars by larger, burly, armor clad cyclops.

Stealth Elf then teleported at one of the mage-looking cyclops and dropped kicked him of the circular platform, teleporting onto her feet after doing so and drawing her daggers, ready to keep on fighting.

However, Stealth Elf felt something tug at her leg. She gasped as she was dragged of her feet and off the circular platform, crashing roughly on the snowy floor. She tried to get up as quickly as she could, shaking her head and trying to get a grip on what just happened. She looked around her and saw herself surrounded by cyclops pointing their weapons menacingly at her.

"This might have been a mistake." Stealth Elf admitted, taking a step back and raising her daggers and taking up a defensive stance.

Then, one cyclop who was wielding a spear charged at Stealth Elf and tried to skewer her. However, she backflipped, managing to both kick the cyclop in the jaw and also to land on the circular platform. Once there, Stealth Elf noticed that the wizard-looking cyclops had resumed their spellcasting and that the burly cyclops had placed the barril of the siege weapon right into position to fire at Winter Keep.

Dread began to build up in Stealth Elf's heart, but she closed her eyes and focused. "Be the ninja." She said to herself. "Be the ninja!" She repeated loudly, her eyes flinging open to see the world mover in slow motion as rush of adrenaline and determination running through her. She then teleported to one of the wizard cyclops and swiped her daggers at him. Just as she felt the blow connect, she disappeared again, teleporting over to one of the two remaining enemies. She did a gut kick, and again, just as Stealth Elf felt the impact, she teleported over to the last enemy and backhanded him with one of her daggers.

The whole thing happened so quickly, that when Stealth Elf was finished, all three cyclops seemed to have been flung off the platform at the same time, knocked out by the ninja Skylander's lightning fast attacks, which made the cyclops beneath her all take a step back, shocked by the impressive display.

Now the icy mortar was left unattended, and Stealth Elf sighed with relief. However, she looked to her left and all sense of relief quickly left her. There were three other blue mortars, aimed and ready to fire, jagged ice shards loaded into the weapons' barrels.

"Oh no." Stealth Elf said hopelessly, slumping her shoulders.

But suddenly, from the sky above them, two mortars were showered with streams of orange fire and blue lightning. The siege weapons then exploded violently with icy shrapnel and snowy mist instead of flames, sending the cyclops around them flying back.

"Woohoo!" A cheerful voice cried.

The familiar sense of pride in that voice made Stealth Elf smile and roll her eyes. "Oh, Spyro." She sighed.

* * *

Eruptor was being held back by the arms by Jet-Vac and Pop Fizz. Both Skylanders were struggling with the magma elemental, trying to keep him from leaving to the battlefield.

"Eruptor! Stop this now!" Jet-Vac yelled. "You're being naturally brash!"

"They need our help put there!" Eruptor shouted back, trying to break free of his friends' grip. "I can't leave our friends alone!"

"They aren't alone!" Jet-Vac grunted, trying to keep his grip on his friend. "Do you think they can't do this by themselves?"

"That's not it, man!" Eruptor yelled. "I just can't let my friends get hurt by that monster!" Eruptor said, loosening up slightly, surprising Jet-Vac and Pop Fizz.

"What do you mean?" Jet-Vac asked, a concerned tone in his voice as he loosened his grip on his friend's arm.

Eruptor waited a little to answer. He closed his eyes and reluctantly recalled his memories of Cyrus, making himself frown. He remembered how the evil purple dragon had almost killed Spyro, how he had hurt Stealth Elf and how he was now probably out there with them right now. "I don't want him to take my friends away." Eruptor said softly.

"Lad…" Jet-Vac began, a comforting look in his eyes.

"That's why I gotta do _this_!" Eruptor shouted suddenly, yarring his arms forward rapidly, getting them loose from his friends' weakened grip, causing them to stumble to the ground before rushing up the stairs leading to the upper level at the end of the hallway.

"Eruptor wait!" Jet-Vac and Pop FIzz shouted in unison.

But Eruptor didn't listen. He kept going, traveling up through the bastion's stairway, reaching the first level, a large room, with a stairwell which lead up and down as well as several tables. The large pearlstone gate stood opposite to where Eruptor was in the room.. The door was being guarded by a couple of frost elves, that noticed Eruptor's sudden entrance.

"Umm, is everything okay?" One of the elves asked in a kind tone. He walked slowly up to Eruptor while his partner stood in his place guarding the door.

"Y-Yeah, sure." Eruptor said shakily. "Just wondering, could you open the gate for me really quick?" He asked with a nervous smile.

"You want the gate opened?" The elf asked back, a surprised tone in his voice. "Why? We need to keep watch in case someone comes for the prisoner." The elf said.

"Yeah. I get that." Eruptor said, a little irritation in his voice. "But look pal. I need to get out there to help my friends." He said, making the elf listen keenly, lifting his long blue ears. "There's a really dangerous dragon out there who wants to hurt them and I ca-"

Before Eruptor was able to finish, he felt as a powerful force pushed at his whole body. Heat and light made Eruptor close his eyes shut. He felt as he was swept of his feet and crash, back first into the wall behind him. Then, he felt to the floor, where he tried to get on his feet.

"What just happened?" Eruptor asked, rubbing his head with one of his hands. "Did that elf explode or something?" Eruptor wondered confused.

"Wow! You really got me in!" A rough and gravelly voice shouted, an edge of joyful disbelief in its voice.

Eruptor looked up to see what was going on. When he looked up he was faced with a shocking scene. In the center of the room, in the middle of a black smoldering crater, stood a hulking, black and purple armored cyclop. He had his hands on his hips and looked like he was taking a look around.

"I've never seen the inside of this place!" Enumat stated. "It's a little underwhelming to be honest, but still!" The cyclop continued, gesturing at someone in front of him, who was obstructed by the cyclop's massive body. "Cyrus has _really_ useful associates!"

Then, a smaller figure shifted in front of Enumat, where Eruptor couldn't see clearly. However, the figure soon walked to the right of where the large cyclop was standing, and sat down, as if waiting orders. Its scales as pitch-black as Eruptor remembered, its round, empty eyes the same color as it's name.

"Red Eyes." Eruptor stated quietly, remembering his old, fire breathing foe.

"You…" A voice suddenly sounded through the room. It wasn't Enumat's voice, it sounded softer and less gravely, but griff was smeared across it. "You hurt him." The voice said. Eruptor looked over to where the voice came from. The second elf, who guarded the entrance gate, was looking over to his left, a look of pure shock in his face.

Eruptor then looked over to where the elf was looking at. Eruptor then saw the elf who had been talking to him, laying down on the floor, motionless, small streams of smoke emanating from his now dented and slightly charred armor.

"You hurt him!" The second elf yelled again, making Eruptor look over to him.

The Skylander watched as the frost elf, blue sword and shield out charged at Enumat. But then, Enumat, who was roughly five times larger than the small elf, stretched his arm out and held the frost elf in place, like how an older sibling does to his younger sibling when they get too energetic.

"Why did you hurt my friend!?" The frost elf cried as he flung his weapon and shield in the air at Enumat, who was too far and arm's reach away.

Then, Enumat tightened his grip around the frost elf's grey helmet, and with one hand managed to lift him off the ground.

The little elf continued to flail his weapons in the air, slower, speaking in a more brittle than angry voice. "Why did you hurt my friend?" He said.

Then, Eruptor watched in horror as Enumat began to draw his free arm back behind his head, and ball his hand up into a fist.

"No, wait!" Eruptor shouted, getting off the ground and trying to run at the large cyclop.

But it was too late. With a sonorous blow, Enumat punched the frost elf in the stomach so hard, he shot out of Enumat's hand and flew across the room, crashing loudly into the thick wooden wall with such force, it splintered and caved in, creating a little seat for the unconscious elf.

"Well, that felt good." Enumat said out loud with a pleased tone. Then, Enumat turned around, his pale purple face relaxed and bearing a pleasant smile as he laid eyes on Eruptor.

"Heya, magma barf." Enumat said mockingly. "How's your day?"

Eruptor took a couple of steps back. He was facing one of the Knights of Solitude and the leader of the One-Eyed Legion, by himself. "And I thought my friends needed help." Eruptor said to himself, nervously shifting his eyes between the two enemies in front of him.

"Eruptor!" Someone called from behind the Skylander. "What on earth is all that racket!?" Eruptor turned around to see Jet-Vac and Pop Fizz walking up the stairs.

Both Skylanders froze up when they saw what the racket was.

"How did they get in here!?" Pop Fizz asked in surprise.

"Must have been our old friend's doing." Jet-Vac said, aiming his vac gun at Red Eyes.

"Well, well, well." Enumat began. "Looks like you've got no back up to cheat me this time losers." The large cyclop began to walk forth, cracking his knuckles loudly and grinding sinisterly.

Red Eyes began to walk slowly Behind Enumat, making the Skylanders begin to sweat. They weren't going to get help and these baddies seemed to be a little much for them to face alone.

But then a thought flashed in Eruptors mind. It was a really cheap bait, but maybe it could work on Enumat. _"Couldn't hurt to try."_ Eruptor concluded before speaking up. "Yeah, cuz this time, _you_ are the cheater!" Eruptor said loudly.

"What did you say?" Enumat hissed, his cocky grin replaced with a sharp frown.

"Eruptor!" Jet-Vac called his friend. "He looks dangerous enough without him being angry!"

"Trust me." Eruptor said simply ash faced over to his friend. "I think I have a plan to help us with this fight." The magma Skylander then looked over to Enumat, who was still looking pretty upset. "Look buddy, I think it's pretty clear you can take us three on by yourself right?" Eruptor baited.

"You bet you bucket I can!" Enumat roared.

"Then what are you doing with _him_?" Eruptor pointed at Red Eyes. "He's not _helping_ you is he?"

"What!?" Enumat turned around to Red Eyes. "Of course not! He's just here to witness me kicking all of your butts!" He said, grabbing the dark dragon by the back of the neck and then, to the Skylanders surprise, tossing the dragon over his head and making him land roughly on one of the wooden tables, breaking it with a loud crash.

"Well then." Eruptor began, getting into battle pose, inciting his fellow Skylanders to do the same. "Let's get to it then."

* * *

Cynder flew in the sky over the One-Eye Legion. She was heading toward one of the blue mortar-looking weapons on the left of the army's mass. She dived through the air and when she was just close enough, she opened her mouth and released a large current of spectral lighting. The attack connected with the weapon's barril, and after reaching the strange, jagged ice shard that was loaded inside, the whole thing blew up in a blast of icy sharpnel.

Cynder then began to rise higher up above the scene. She turned around to see how things were going. She was rather pleased with the results. Since her and Spyro had dropped in by surprise from the Dread-Yacht's deck, the two dragons had cleared out almost all the blue siege weapons their enemies had. All except the one Stealth Elf was fighting cyclops off from. Cynder was surprised by how well her fellow Skylander was doing. Stealth Elf was teleporting all around the circular platform around the blue weapon's barril, kicking and punching any cyclop that tried to get close.

Cynder then looked to the sky, looking for her other companion. She saw as Spyro dove down and released a fireball at last one of the siege weapons, causing it to blow up similarly to how the one Cynder had attacked. Her purple friend seemed to be having a good time.

"Hey, Elfy!" Spyro shouted as he began to approach his friend. "How's it going down there?"

"Oh you know." Stealth Elf began, taking a short breath. "Just peachy."

Cynder then flew down to the platform and landed beside her friend. The dragoness released a stream of lighting at nearing cyclops, causing them to shake and fall.

"Is it me or are these guys not very good at-" Cynder paused, looking for the right word. "Fighting back?" She got out, noticing how, despite all the mortars she and Spyro had destroyed were all loaded, no a single one fired, even when there was a window of opportunity for it.

"What do you mean?" Spyro asked landing on the platform and firing a stream of flames at a spear a cyclop had launched.

"Yes, friend." A sleepy voice, suddenly pierced through the turmoil of the battle. "What _do_ you mean?"

The cyclops attacking and surrounding the Skylanders suddenly simmered down and took several steps back, clreating a circular clearing while the rest of them kept moving toward the breach in the ice wall. This odd situation surprised the heroes, who were now glancing at each other, user of what all of this meant.

Then, a group of cyclops stepped to their side, creating a little opening for someone to step through.

"How are all my least favorite people doing?" Cyrus asked with a sleepy smile as he walked slowly, wings dragging behind him, in front of the Skylanders.

"Never better." Spyro started, getting off the platform his friends were standing on to level with Cyrus. "Cuz now I finally get a chance to pay you back for last time."

"Spyro?" Cynder called concerned as she dropped down with Spyro to the clearing, followed by Stealth Elf.

"Don't worry." Spyro said reassuringly, not looking away from Cyrus. "This isn't going to go like last time."

"Are you sure?" Cyrus asked, a suspicious edge in his voice. "Because I think we are in the exact same situation as the last time."

"How so?" Cynder asked daringly, not letting Cyrus get to her.

"Well, for starters." Cyrus began, suddenly taking one of his paws to pick his teeth. "I have you all were I want you." He said, making the Skylanders flinch. "Second, you are all confident you can beat me. And we all know where that put you. So yeah, pretty much the same situation isn't it?" He asked, shrugging his shoulders. "Well, I mean we _are_ in a snow covered warzone but, well, the devil is in the details."

"Guys." Stealth Elf began. "I think it's pretty obvious he's stalling."

"Am I?" Cyrus said, tilting his head and focusing on Stealth Elf. "What makes you say that?"

"Yeah, there's something off here." Spyro said, looking at Cyrus suspiciously. "What's your game?" He demanded.

"Monopoly." Cyrus answered simply with a perfectly straight face. Which made Spyro growl with irritation.

"Look guys." Stealth Elf said. "I think we should regroup. He's clearly up to something." She stated, turning around and facing the ice wall.

Cynder began to do the same, not taking her eyes off Cyrus, who was looking at the floor, seemingly drawing something in the snow.

"Would you like to know how Ninjini died?" Cyrus asked simply, out loud.

Cynder felt the bad memories of Ninjini's unfortunate passing returning slowly, steadily to her mind. Then, a thought crossed through her mind. Despite Cyrus looking away and apparently saying what he had said to the wind, she felt he had a specific target in mind.

"What was that?" Stealth Elf asked slowly from behind Cynder, the small smile curling up Cyrus' lips confirming her fears.

"Oh, yes." Cyrus began, still tracing his claws over the snow in front of him. "My master loves to gossip about this kind of stuff. The Knights of Solitude are not exactly a good crowd so, he confides with little ol' me" He said, the smile on his face growing.

"Elfy?" Spyro called. "I know it hurts, but don't let him get to you." Spyro warned, taking a few steps closer to his elven friend.

Cynder then saw Stealth Elf walk slowly back to the clearing of cyclops, looking at Cyrus. The dragoness noticed her friend was clutching her daggers very tightly.

"He said she fought hard." Cyrus continued, still doodling on the snow. "He told me that was one of the hardest fights that he had been in. But the way she died… he told be she had died smiling, something about how her apprentice was going to become _the new greatest ninja_." The evil purple dragon said, quoting the last words. "Wouldn't know why though." He said, lifting his head looking at Stealth Elf, his malevolent green eyes filled with cruel mirth. "By the looks of you, she's probably cringing in her grave."

That had done it. Cynder looked in horror as Stealth Elf charged suddenly at Cyrus, who smiled widely, cruelly at the salt he had rubbed on the elf's wounds.

* * *

Pop Fizz jumped to side, trying to avoid the large wooden table Enumat had launched at him. The blue Skylander succeeded, narrowly.

"Man! This guy is really strong!" Eruptor cried out as he tried to get up slowly from the ground across the room. He grunted in pain and falled down, covering his left eye, the one Enumat had punched, causing Eruptor to end up where he was.

"You're telling me!?" Jet-Vac exclaimed from a corner of the room he had been flung to by Enumat, as he released a full power air current at large the cyclop, who merely put his arms up in front of him and walked slowly at Jet-Vac through the mighty wind.

"Hah! You guys are total wimps!" Enumat boasted as he got closer and closer to Jet-Vac. "I'm gonna have a good time beating you all up!"

"Oh yeah!?" Pop Fizz shouted, getting up from the floor and looking at Enumat. "Well' guess what? I'm not about to let you hurt my friends!"

"Oh really?" Enumat began, turning over to Pop Fizz, almost ignoring Jet-Vac's attack at this point. "And how are you going to do that? You're not going to give me some speech about friendship and use the same cheap attack you've used all your life to suddenly win, are you?" He asked daringly.

"No." Pop Fizz said simply, reaching for his backpack and grabbing the neck of a particular potion. "I'm going to do _this_!" He said, drawing out a large green potion from his backpack. The beaker was labeled with a black skull and crossbones and the green potion inside was bubbling slightly. "Bottoms up!" The blue Skylander shouted before uncorking the potion and pouring it down his throat.

A few moments passed and everyone in the room, Eruptor, Jet-Vac and Enumat were all looking at Pop Fizz intently, who had stayed put after drinking the strange potion.

"Is that it?" Enumat asked genuinly. "Are you okay? You've stayed perfectly still for twelve seconds."

Then, Pop Fizz suddenly began shaking, startling his friends and enemy as his clear blue fur began to darken considerably, and he started growing in size. Then, a purplish tint appeared around his face, his fingernails and teeth sharpened into claws and fangs. A deranged look now in his eyes as his transformation into Beast Mode completed.

"Oh." Enumat said simply. "That's more like it." He said as a pleased grin pulled at his eyelid-looking jaw. "Mind if I pull out a cool trick too?" The cyclop asked maliciously, making Pop Fizz worry a little bit.

Then, Enumat took his left hand and drove it into the large purple crystal in his chest, bright pink light emanating from the cracks around the place he had driven his hand into. Then, he pulled his hand out of his chest's rock and to Pop Fizz' surprise a thick hilt, made of a similar purple rock emerged from the cyclop's chest. Then, Enumat used his other hand to pull even more of the hilt out of his chest before, with a loud grunt and effort, he extracted a large hammer's head, connected to the previously extracted hilt.

Pop Fizz had watched as his enemy had drawn the large crystalline weapon from their first meeting out of the large rock in his chest. Now Enumat's hammer and the purple rocks in his chest and between the horns on his helmet glowed sinisterly in unison.

"Alright." Enumat began, putting his hammer's head into his left hand. "One on one. No strings attached. Sound good?" The cyclop asked, looking eager for a fight.

Pop Fizz looked over to his friends, who were both downed from Enumat's pummeling. He then looked over to Enumat. In his Beast Mode, speaking was a difficult, so Pop Fizz simply nodded, a little energetically but enough to get his intent across.

"Alright." Enumat said, now grinning widely. "Let's do this!" He bellowed as he charged at Pop Fizz, his hammer behind him, in position for the cyclop to do a mighty overhead swing.

Pop Fizz rolled to his right quicky, avoiding the cyclop's hammer crashing loudly and crushing the floorboards on which Pop Fizz stood. Enumat struggled to take his hammer out of the ground, which provided Pop Fizz an opportunity to swing his claws at the cyclop's head. The blow connected and caused Enumat to stumble back and let go of his weapon. Pop Fizz then tried to swing again, jumping in the air due to the cyclop's massive height difference and the blow connected once again, making Enumat take another step back.

But just as Pop Fizz jumped up once again and was about to land a third swing, he felt his arm get caught mid swing. He looked over to see his arm surrounded by Enumat's large pale hand. Then, Pop Fizz felt like his face had been struck by a truck. The next thing he was conscious enough to feel was the floor rising up to meet his face. Pop Fizz shook his head and looked up. He saw Enumat far away, going to get his hammer. Apparently, even in Beast Mode Pop Fizz wasn't strong enough to match Enumat.

"Well, I've gotta say." Enumat began. "I felt those hits buddy, It's a shame you can't take what you dish out." The cyclop said, pulling his hammer out of the floor and turning to Pop Fizz.

Pop Fizz then pumped up onto his feet. He couldn't give up so easily. And so, with a rabid howl, Pop Fizz charged at Enumat, who roared back and charged as well, his hammer at the ready. Pop Fizz however, was faster than his one-eyed enemy. He jumped up and crossed both his claws across Enumat's face before the cyclop could raise his hammer to swing at Pop Fizz.

"Argh!" Enumat cried out in pain, as he stumbled back and took one of his hands to cover his face.

Pop Fizz however, didn't stop there, he tried to tackle the hulking cyclop's right leg in order to get him off balance. And so, Pop Fizz lunged at his target while Enumat was still disoriented and tried to pull the cyclop's leg off the ground. With more effort than expected, Pop Fizz achieved his task, making Enumat stumble backward and crash onto the floor loudly.

Without wasting time, Pop Fizz jumped high into the air and slammed powerfully onto his enemy's chest, creating a small shockwave, cracking the purple rock at the center of Enumat's black chestplate and making the large cyclop give out a pained howl.

After this, Pop Fizz felt as Enumat's large hand gripped one of his ears tightly, causing Pop Fizz to wince in pain before the large cyclop flung him off his chest, crashing the Skylander onto one of the few remaining tables.

Pop Fizz then stood up quickly and looked over to Enumat. The cyclop was getting up, gripping his hammer with one hand while he had his other hand over the cracked crystal on his chest. The large cyclop looked rather wounded, and the crystals on his gear were now glowing a little weaker. This made a thought cross through Pop Fizz' head. Maybe he had found the cyclop's weakness. It couldn't hurt to try.

With a toothy grin, or more accurately, a fanged grin, Pop Fizz charged at Enumat once again, his hands balled up into fists as he readied to slam into his enemy's chest as he jumped up to reach his target.

Once again, speed proved Pop Fizz' greatest ally in his battle. Just as Enumat was about to move his hammer, Pop Fizz crashed violently against the crystal on the cyclop's chest. The impact knocked Enumat back and caused small crystal splinters to shoot off his chestplate. Afterwards, Pop Fizz landed on the ground and with a powerful uppercut, he jumped up and smacked Enumat's head so hard his black helmet was knocked off his head, revealing his pale pink scalp.

Then, Pop Fizz landed on the ground again, the rush and adrenaline of Beast Mode beginning to leave his body as he slowly began to transform back into his usual self, breathing hard from the exhaustion from the intense fight.

However, when Pop Fizz looked up to see if his enemy was defeated, he was greeted with a really unpleasant surprise. Enumat was standing. Helmet gone, hammer dropped and chestplate cracked, but standing nonetheless, his dark eye fixated on Pop Fizz.

"Well." Enumat began. "That was fun." The cyclop stated simply.

Pop Fizz then watched as Enumat's eye rolled back into his head and the hulking cyclop fell to the ground, flat on his back and unconscious.

However, a few moments after Enumat collapse in defeat, Pop Fizz saw as Red Eyes moved swiftly over to its fellow villian. Once close enough, the dark dragon covered as much of Enumat as it could with its wings, and after a few seconds and a loud bang, followed by a flash of fiery light and heat, the two villains disappeared, leaving behind a small flaming crater.

Pop Fizz then let out a sigh of relief as she slumped into the ground, exhaustion finally getting the better of him.

"Wow." Pop Fizz heard Eruptor's shocked voice beguin. "That was something else."

"You said it, lad." Jet-Vac agreed. "That was quite the impressive display, Pop." The senior Skylander congratulated his friend.

"Hehehe." Pop Fizz laughed weakly, his field of vision getting darker and darker. "I love you guys." He said, before drifting into an exhausted sleep.

* * *

Stealth Elf swung her blades through the air, trying with every fiber of her body to run them through Cyrus' purple scales.

"Oh, my. Did I strike a nerve?" Cyrus asked with a cruel smile, as honest as it was mocking.

The purple dragon dodged, narrowly but elegantly as Stealth Elf swung her weapons in rage, perfectly calm under his enemy's assault, still smiling broadly. When she swung her daggers, he stepped back, when she kicked high he ducked, when she kicked low, he gave a little jump, all the while staying just out of harm's way. All this made Stealth Elf even angrier to the point she let out a frustrated scream.

"Elf!" Stealth Elf heard Spyro call. "Calm down! This is what he wants!" The purple dragon yelled form behind her.

But Stealth Elf didn't listen, she wasn't going to let this sarcastic purple punk get away with what he had said. She teleported behind Cyrus and was about to swing one of her daggers at the back of his head.

"Elf, no!" Cynder shouted at Stealth Elf, seeing something Stealth Elf had not focused on.

But before Stealth Elf could react, Cyrus moved with blinding speed, turning around and stepping back, avoiding Stealth Elf's attack. Then, Cyrus lunged forward, mouth open, revealing it's dark insides.

Then, Stealth Elf's eyes went round from a horrible pain that was now erupting from her right hand. She let out a pained scream as she looked to see Cyrus´ jaws, clamped around her hand and over her dagger, an intense pressure crushing her hand as small needle-like teeth shredded her skin with stinging pain, even through her leather gauntlet.

But then, after a short breath and a flash of green from his black markings, Cyrus released a small burst of green and black flames that dispersed rapidly, reaching only a few inches out of the dragon's mouth. But as Stealth Elf's hand remained trapped in Cyrus' jaws, that was enough.

Stealth Elf felt as Cyrus' flames reached her skin, burning almost instantly though her leather gauntlet. The pain was like nothing she had felt before. The flames felt cold and cruel, unlike any fire she had known. As the flames spread through her skin, she felt like it was being devoured, ripped off, little by little with an almost exquisite detail. The scream Stealth Elf gave out made no justice to how bad the pain she felt was. She was overwhelmed, and slumped to her knees as Cyrus released her arm from his jaws.

Stealth Elf looked at her charred hand to see what the damage was. She began to shake from the sight. Her gauntlet was completely trashed and burned through, revealing her hand, which was now blackened and blistering with green embers. The pain on her hand had reduced by an insignificant margin since she had gotten it out of Cyrus' jaws.

"Like I said." Cyrus began, looking down at Stealth Elf. "Cringing in her grave." He said, raising one of his paws, which was now glowing red, over Stealth Elf's head. "To think someone so great died for someone like you."

She didn't say anything back. As she closed her eyes and lowered her head, she accepted both what Cyrus had said and what he was about to do. "I'm sorry." She said weakly, a small tear running down her cheek. "I failed you."

But then Stealth Elf heard something strange, through the noise the cyclop army was making she heard a struggle really close to her.

"That's my friend you monster!" A male voice yelled. They sounded really angry.

"No need to get sentimental." Another, raspier voice answered. "This is a war after all."

Stealth Elf opened her eyes to see Spyro and Cynder attacking Cyrus with their breath attacks, releasing lightning and fire, trying to get him away from Stealth Elf. The evil purple dragon then took flight, rising above the Skylanders and avoiding their attacks.

"Well, I think this has been more than enough time." Cyrus stated. "They better had come back with something. In any case." The purple dragon continued, smiling unconvincingly. "This has been a lovely little meeting. See you all later I guess." He finished, waving his right paw before flying away and leaving the Skylanders surrounded by cyclops.

"Elfy!" Spyro called out, running over to his Stealth Elf.

Stealth Elf saw Spyro look at her worriedly, or at least she thought he looked worried, her vision was getting a little blurry.

"Elf?" Stealth Elf could hear Spyro call, but for some reason it sounded muffled, far away.

"Elf!" The purple dragon called again sounding even further away, and Stealth Elf felt like she was being shaken, but she barely noticed. She was blacking out. The pain coming from her hand was simply too much to bare.

"I'm sorry." She managed to whisper. "I'm never going to live up to what you wanted." She got out weakly, another tear creeping out of her eye before the world around Stealth Elf faded to black.

* * *

"Elf!" Spyro shouted at his friend, shaking her to stop her from blacking out. But it was no use. The green Skylander was now knocked out in Spyro's arms. Not an ideal situation while being surrounded by cyclops.

"Cynder!" Spyro called, turning around to see his friend blasting cyclops with her lightning as they approached her friends. "She needs help!"

"Well don't worry!" A female voice with a thick scottish accent came through. "We've got you all covered!"

Spyro turned around to see Avril, leading a group of frost elves through the cyclop ranks, swinging their weapons at their enemies and opening a path to the Skylanders.

"We can take her back to the bastion." Avril said to Spyro. "We've pushed the One-Eyed Legion back and we've got medicine inside to help her." the frost elf captain said as she took Stealth Elf out of Spyro's arms.

Spyro looked at his fallen friend with a worried gaze. "Just look after her." Spyro said gently.

"Don't worry friend." Avril said reassuringly with a little smile. "I will." She said, turning around while carrying Stealth Elf and running back to Winter Keep bastion.

Spyro then took a deep breath as he saw his friend get taken away. Then, he turned around and saw Cynder still fighting against the cyclops. However, she now had a couple of frost elves helping her, swingin their weapons and using their shields to fend off and push back their one-eyed enemies. Spyro felt like he had to contribute to the cause. So, with a powerful wingbeat, he rose above his friends and enemies, took a deep breath and released a huge stream of flames, raining them down on the cyclops that were attacking Cynder and the frost elves below him causing the ones that weren't set ablaze to back up and start to run away

From up where he was, Spyro noticed that most of the One-Eyed Legion was actually starting to retreat, running past and bumping into each other as they retreated down the massive bridge they came from, dispersing and fleaing as they got away from the battlefield.

"Finally." Spyro sighed. "It's over." He said as he flew down slowly, touching down into the snowy ground beside Cynder, who was breathing hard and keeping her eyes on the retreating cyclops.

"They retreated!" A frost elf near Spyro shouted. "We win! Horray!" She cheered, inciting her fellow elves to do the same.

Spyro gave a little smile as he watched the frost elves cheer as they slowly returned to their bastion.

"We did it." Spyro heard Cynder say softly.

Spyro turned to see his friend sitting on her hind legs, smiling, looking sistantly at the horizon. He walked up beside Cynder, and sat down as well. He looked at where Cynder was looking, through the battlefield, snow was beginning to fall gently and the light of the sun was finally starting to breach the thick clouds above the two dragons. He took a deep breath, still a little exhausted from the huge battle, but he felt relieved it was over.

Then, Spyro tensed up. He felt as Cynder rested her head on his shoulder, edging closer to him, still looking at the horizon and smiling pleasantly.

Spyro then loosened and smiled once again, turning to the horizon, before resting his head gently over Cynder's. Both dragons then stood in silence, enjoying each others presence. Spyro then stretched his right wing and covered Cynder with it, closing his eyes, appreciating the quiet little moment fully.

* * *

Cyrus was pacing, waiting anxiously through the snow-covered hill in front of the Great Hall. He was waiting for his _associates_ to arrive, hoping for any kind of good result. While he waited, he saw as the remainders of the One-Eyed Legion arrived at the clearing beneath the hill Cyrus paced on. They all looked quite tired, some of them looked even battered, wounded from their battle with the frost elves.

"Not very capable." Cyrus said to himself, while contemplation the returning cyclops. "But quite loyal." He added, noting that every single one that was capable of it, had returned.

Then, a loud bang sounded from behind Cyrus. A burst of light and heat that announced the arrival of his, _associates._

"Took you long enough." Cyrus spat, upset at the delay. He turned around to see what his underlings had brought for him. When the purple dragon turned around however, he was faced with a distressing view. "What is this?" Cyrus hissed, take back by what he was looking at.

In front of Cyrus, was a small scorched crater, at the center of which stood Red Eyes, who had its wings spread over the fallen body of a large armored cyclop. The dark dragon removed it's wings to reveal Enumat, battered and unconscious. His helmet was missing, the crystal on his chest plate was cracked and had, to Cyrus' horror, hands empty. The purple dragon's prize was nowhere to be found.

"No, no, no, no." Cyrus mumbled, taking his paw over to the red mark over his head, scratching slowly, but increasing in speed as his heart began to race in panic. The purple dragon had schemed this whole thing for days. He shifted targets from the undead Skylander dragoness to Vathek because he thought it would be simpler, after all the dragon price had no friends to get between him and Cyrus and with the cyclops' help, Cyrus was sure he could have succeeded in, _collecting_ him. He had made sure to call of the Skylanders' attention to himself during the siege so that Enumat and Red Eyes could infiltrate the bastion with greater ease. Apparently, all that pain had been for nothing.

But now, with his underlings coming back to him empty handed, Cyrus realised he would be empty handed himself. And he knew full well what that meant for him. He covered his face with his free paw and clenched his mark with the other. Panic was starting to set into Cyrus' body as he began to shake in his place.

Cyrus' mind started to race after his heart, desperately trying to come up with some way to avoid his master's wrath. Then, an idea crossed his mind, making his shaking suddenly stop. _"Maybe…"_ He wandered. The groundwork of a thought began to appear in Cyrus' head, an idea taking shape. He always came up with his best thoughts when he was afraid.

Cyrus looked over to the cyclop lesion below him. They could make fitting pawns. They had already proven themselves complacent, and mildly capable in combat. He then looked over to Enumat. The hulking brute was a capable fighter, and was foolish enough to make him play fetch if need be. Cyrus began to calm down, slowly but steadily. Maybe he wouldn't return with the dragon he undead dragon he had promised, but at least he wouldn't return empty handed.

Then, Cyrus noticed as Enumat began to stir on the ground, a gravely groan emerging from the cyclop's throat. "Yes, I will have green sauce with that." The large cyclop mumbled incoherently, still half awake.

"Enumat." Cyrus called loudly as he composed himself, trying to wake the cyclop fully.

At the call of his name Enumat flung his eye open and suddenly sat up. "I said green sauce!" The brute blurted out. "Huh? Where am I?" Enumat asked confused, rubbing his head with his right hand. He then focused his dark pink eye on Cyrus, realising where he was.

"Tell me." Cyrus began, looking at Enumat intently. "How would you like a promotion?" He asked his lackey.

Enumat looked confused, he furrowed his single brow, as if trying to understand what Cyrus was talking about. "What's that supposed to mean?" He asked in a suspicious tone.

Cyrus smiled. A small, rather wicked smile, but a smile nonetheless. "How would you like to meet the guy behind of all this?" He asked Enumat. "How would you like to meet my boss?"

* * *

Spyro was standing on the ice barrier beside his fellow Skylanders. The Dread-Yacht had towed against the edge of the icy wall, ready to pick the Skylanders up and take them back to the Academy. They were all waiting for Stealth Elf to meet them. She had been taken away by the frost elves to be healed inside the bastion.

"Man!" Flynn exclaimed as he peeked down the Dread-Yacht's side at the massive hole Cyrus had burned into the ice wall. "They are gonna need a whole heck of a lot of snow to patch that up!"

"Don't worry about that friend." Avril began, the cheerful frost elf said, as she climbed the stairway to the top of the wall in order to meet the Skylanders. "We have snow to spare around here."

"Hey Avril." Eruptor greeted the elf captain. "How is she?" He asked caringly, refernig of course to Stealth Elf.

"She's a fighter." Avril stated. "But those burns are some serious business and made by no dragon fire like I've heard of." She added, darkening up a little bit. "They'll take time to heal fully."

"Time is all she needs." Spyro said, remembering how strong his friend truly is. "Where is she anyway? We need to get back to the Academy."

"No need to rush me." A familiar voice joked.

Spyro and his friends looked behind Avril to see Stealth Elf rise up the stairway to meet her friends. They noticed that their friend's right forearm was covered in a white cast, covering her wounded hand. They also noticed that the cast had some strange green patterns on it, reminiscent to healing spell inscriptions.

"Elfy!" Pop Fizz called cheerfully. "You're okay!"

"Of course she's okay." Avril began. " _We_ patched her up after all." She joked striking a prideful pose, puffing out her chest.

"Yeah, I'm alright." Stealth Elf said giving her friends a weak smile.

Spyro wanted to smile back, but he remembered what had happened on the battlefield. He remembered what Cyrus had said to Stealth Elf. Almost surgically wounding words that had really gotten to Stealth Elf. How she had taken those words made Spyro feel worried for his friend. _"I failed you."_ Stealth Elf's words crossed the purple dragon's mind, realizing who she was talking to.

Spyro felt an urge to help his friend. So, he tried his best. "Elfy? You were awesome today!" He said, trying to give a convincing smile.

"Yeah! Definitely!" Avril agreed, making Spyro feel a little relief. "You really gave it to those one-eyed punks!"

"I wasn't there to see it." Jet-Vac interjected. "But I don't doubt it for a second!" The senior Skylander stated.

"Same!" Eruptor added. "And to think I was worried about you!"

Spyro was surprised by how his friends' praise had come out so honestly. He was relieved however, to see the surprised expression on Stealth Elf's face. She looked looked taken back, a small, embarrassed blush in her cheeks.

"Y-You really think so?" Stealth Elf asked, taking a step back and glancing away from her friends.

"Definitely." Spyro stated, simply but honestly, smiling warmly.

"Well, in that case." Flynn spoke suddenly. "We need to get to the Academy! I mean, what's a cool story without anyone to brag to, am I right?" The mabu captain joked.

Stealth Elf gave a little giggle. "I guess a _little_ bragging couldn't hurt." She said.

"Well then." Jet-Vac started. "Let's get going, because, no offence Avril-" He turned to the frost elf. "But I've had enough of this cold."

"Oh, none taken friend." Avril said happily. "The snow gets really familiar really fast."

"Alright then." Flynn said suddenly, moving to the Dread-Yacht's cabin. "I think it's time for goodbyes everyone."

"Yeah." Spyro agreed. "It's time to get going, I don't think Cyrus will wait too long before making another move."

"But wait." Pop Fizz interrupted. "How do we know they won't come back here?" He asked.

"Oh don't worry about Vathek" Avril began merrily. "That undead monster is getting picked up and taken back to Dragon's Peak first thing in the morning." She said. "Ramses' little event has been resolved so he can take his mess of a little brother back to Dragon's Peak, where your evil purple friend can't reach him."

"Well, alright." Spyro sighed. "I think things are fixed up around here." He said, moving to board the Dread-Yacht alongside his friends. "Let's get going."

"Come visit some time?" Avril asked, waving at Spyro and his friends with a broad smile on her face.

"Of course!" They all yelled back as the Dread-Yacht began to take off, rising high above Winter Keep.

"Alright everybody." Flynn began. "Let's get going." He said before shouting his catchphrase and jarring the ship forward. "Boom!"

* * *

 _Author's notes_

 _Wow, that's one long chapter and a difficult one to write, lots of action. But tiss been writen nonetheless! Huzza!_ _More stuff on the way!_

 _-_ I still don't own Skylanders Academy


	9. Chapter 9

**Skylanders Academy: New Horizon**

by andresponceb2002

 **Chapter 9) All that Glitters**

Snapshot was walking down the lower wing of Cloudcracker prison. He was doing a spot check for the recently recaptured Doom Raiders. The senior Skylander had quite the debt with team Spyro and the new Academy headmistress for bringing such slippery delinquents back into custody and Snapshot was determined to _keep_ them in custody this time.

"Alright everyone, the sun is up, as you should be!" Snapshot shouted across the lower wing, making the Doom Raiders behind their respective cells give out annoyed groans and complains.

"It's six in the morning!" Snapshot heard Chompy Mage complain.

"We need our beauty sleep you know!" Chompy Puppet's shrill voice followed up.

"It's not like we're going anywhere." Dream Catcher groaned.

"Alright you rascals." Snapshot began. "I'll keep this quick and efficient, so that I can go do literally anything else than keep you all company."

"Gee, thanks Snapshot." Wolfgang growled from behind his cell's bars.

Then, Snapshot began to walk slowly down the lower wing's wide corridor, looking to his sides at each Doom Raider. As he passed, he looked to his right to Dream Catcher's cell, in which the large floating head hovered in circles. Then, Snapshot looked to his left, at Chef Pepper Jack's cell. He noticed the Doom raider was stirring something in the toilet near the back of the cell.

"What's for dinner Pepper Jack?" Snapshot asked as he kept his eyes on the Doom Raider.

"Nothing." Pepper Jack responded, a down tone in his voice. "Just cleaning the toilet." He said, raising his arms to reveal a large wooden brush.

Satisfied, Snapshot kept moving toward the other Doom Raiders. He walked past Broccoli Guy, who was banging his head against one the walls of his cell. Snapshot dismissed this as the awkward Doom Raider being his own strange self.

So, he walked further down, to the final stretch of the hallway. He turned to his left to Wolfgang's cell. The Doom Raider was gripping the bars of his cell tightly and had his teeth bared from growling. The werewolf had been striped away from his bone harp, which made him quite grumpy, but as long as he was behind bars, that meant very little to Snapshot.

And so, Snapshot turned his back and faced the final cell. It gave out a faint golden glow, and was covered in a sparkling golden coat. Characteristic decoration for the villian it held behind it's bars.

"Golden Queen." Snapshot called. "Not feeling well today your highness?" The Skylander asked with fake concern after noticing the infamous Doom Raider was sitting on the edge of her small prison bed, a down look on her face.

"Good." Snapshot continued after the Doom Raider's silence. "This is the least you all deserve for the harm you've all done to the people of the Skylands." He said, turning away from Golden Queen's cell and beginning to walk to the lower wing's exit.

"Now, I do have to ask something of you all." Snapshot stated, making the Doom Raiders focus on him. "Try to stay put this time. It's starting to get embarrassing having to put you all back here this many times." He said with a little chuckle as he walked out of the lower wing and the massive metal gate that separated it from the rest of the prison fell behind him, sealing the Doom Raiders in.

* * *

Golden Queen had stayed still in her place. Her eyes were open and looking at the cell wall in front of her, but weren't focused on anything.

She used to be the most feared villian in the Skylands, the leader of the most infamous gang of villains to ever exist. She remembered the good days, the _golden_ days, when she felt like a true villian. Unstoppable and terrifying. But now, after being humiliated by Kaos and after her last battle with the Skylanders, she had been stopped, she no longer struck fear into her enemies. She was no longer the great villian she used to be.

"Queen, you alright?" Wolfgang asked from the other side of the hallway. He looked a little concerned.

"Yeah Queenie." Pepper Jack's voice came from farther away. "You've been a little down under the weather lately."

"I don't need you to remind me." Golden Queen responded, an irritated edge in her voice, which made the Doom Raiders silence. Golden Queen took a long breath. She then spoke, still not looking over to her fellow criminals. "We used to be the greatest." She began. "We used to be feared even by the strongest Skylanders, we owned the whole Skylands!" She said, emotional with remembrance. "Now, we are nothing but at most an inconvenience to those pesky _heros._ " She hissed, frowning at the thought of the Skylanders.

"Well!" A strange, disembodied voice suddenly sounded. "What would you say to a chance to have your _golden_ days back?" The voice asked. It sounded metallic and unpleasant, creaking sharpy and making the Doom Raiders wince and cover their ears.

"Who are you?" Golden Queen demanded, finally standing up from her bedside.

"One minute sweetheart." The voice said. "I didn't time this right, I can't hear you from here." The voice stated apologetically.

Then, Golden Queen took a step back as she saw a strange purple circle appear suddenly on the floor between her cell and Wolfgang's. The circle was wide enough for Golder Queen herself to fit into and had several strange runes etched across it's edge, some which Golden Queen recognized as dark magic sigils. The rest however, she was unfamiliar with.

Then, Golden Queen saw as the dark green stone the circle surrounded turned pitch black. Looking at it, the purple runes seemed to be surrounding an unnatural and really deep hole that suddenly appeared on the floor.

"What's going on?" Dream Catcher asked from her cell. "Who was that?"

"That!" The voice sounded loudly once again, making the Doom Raiders wince again. "Was _me!_ " The voice said cheerfully.

Golden Queen the saw as a bizarre humanoid figure emerged from the perfect darkness of the dark circle the purple runes surrounded.

The strange shape seemed to be made of things you could find in a garage sale. Green, orange and purple rags hung from below a thick cyan belt, connected to the waist of a yellow wooden mannequin chest with shoulders. Red string, which floated strangely in the air, connected dark wooden hands to the main body and a cruelly designed cylindrical cage which erupted dark smoke, was connected to the mannequin chest by a disgusting purple ooze, making it seem like a head.

Then, from the dark smoke, two completely purple eyes shone sinisterly, glowing through the cage's metallic bars. However they seemed to express joy, for they were curled up and wide.

The figure then turned its body suddenly to Golden Queen, who flinched in surprise at this. "You haven't answered." She said at the newcomer. "Who are you?"

"My name is Omen!" The strange figure introduced itself. It's voice still sounded disembodied, as it the strange shape wasn't the one speaking. "The mastermind behind the Knights of Solitude!" It continued, doing an exaggerated bow at Golden Queen. "And I am here with a job offer!"

"A job offer?" Chompy Mage asked from across the hall. "Who do you take us for?" He demanded.

"Yeah!" Wolfgang agreed. "We aren't some sort of service a freakshow like you can-"

The werewolf was cut off by a wooden hand suddenly crashing into and surrounding his neck, choking him cruelly and lifting him off the ground. A similar choking sound then came from Chompy Mage's cell.

Golden Queen noticed that the red string connected to Omen's wooden shoulders had stretched across the hallway, allowing him to effectively strangle both Doom Raiders while the rest of its body stayed as it was, facing Golden Queen.

"I wasn't talking to you." The disembodied voice sounded cruelly while the purple eyes remained joyfull, focused on Golden Queen, which made her feel uncomfortable, all the while the sounds of Wolfgang and Chompy Mage choking sounded weaker and weaker through the room.

"That'll be enough." Golden Queen told Omen, a steady tone in her voice. She had no use for dead teammates.

"As you wish." Omen said simply. Then, with a reeling sound, the red string on Omen's arms retracted to the point where its wooden hands floated strangely on its sides.

With two thuds, followed by harsh coughing fits and breathless gasps, Golden Queen concluded Omen had released her fellow Doom Raiders. The rest of the gang had remained completely silent, most likely out of fear of Omen choking them as well.

So, after a deep breath she looked at Omen and spoke. "What do you seek to gain here?" She asked, cutting to the chase.

"I have a." Omen paused, his purple eyes glancing to the side and putting his hands together to fidget with his wooden thumbs, as if looking for the right words. "Pet. Project." The strange figure said awkwardly. "And I've been running into some trouble recently. So, to fix this _trouble_ , I've been aggressively hiring new helping hands to get the situation under control." Omen explained.

Golden Queen crossed her arms and looked at Omen with narrowed eyes. "You want to _hire_ me?" She asked, almost convinced this freak was joking.

"That's right!" Omen responded confidently. "You are the strongest member of the most dangerous gang of villains in the Skylands! But, more importantly, your particular magical power, your ability to turn things into gold, is a rare and useful tool I need for my Pet project." Omen stated. "You're just the kind of person I'm looking for!" Omen said cheerfully, raising his arms above his cage-like head.

Golden Queen almost couldn't believe what she had heard. This guy wanted to have her as an underling? _Her?_ She silently concluded he was sick in the head, but she kept it to herself. Instead she spoke tentatively. "Why should I work for you? What do I have to gain?"

Omen then looked at her, his glowing eyes fixated, unmoving on Golden Queen, which made her feel uncomfortable once again. No one had gotten under Golden Queen's skin like this, it made her even more nervous to be around this strange being.

But then, Omen spoke, it's metallic, voice filled with a strange sort of mirth. "I'm sorry." It began. "I think there was a little bit of miscommunication here." It said simply.

Then, Golden Queen felt something suddenly clasp around her throat. Afterwards, as air failed to reach her lungs, she felt herself be lifted off the ground. She looked down to see Omen's wooden hand choke her, the red string connecting it to Omen's shoulder was tensed up, effectively getting her off the ground. She then tried to claw at Omen's hand, attempting to release it from her throat. However the wooden limb was clamped shut around her throat and unyielding.

"I said I had a job offer for you." Omen said. "Not that you had any choice about taking it." Omen said sinisterly, its purple eyes mirroring it's evil intent.

Golden Queen then noticed as the red string connecting Omen's shoulder to its hand, began to change color from bright red to a pure black. This change in color happened gradually, spreading form the connection on Omen's shoulder and spreading slowly to reach the villain's hand.

When the whole string turned black, Golden Queen felt like she was drained of the little strength she had left. She slowly closed her eyes, drifting into a dark sleep.

* * *

Master Eon hovered on the Academy common room's balcony. He was facing one of the tables covered in papers and notes. However, the table Eon was looming over had a very particular book on top of it.

"Could we have overlooked something?" He asked himself, as he looked at the dark tome intently.

Master Eon had found the book in the darker corners of the Relics Room, stashed away, where he hoped it never had to see the light of day again. It was a thick tome, encased with a black cover, which had crimson red markings all over it, barely making any sense, and seeming more like crazed doodles than inscriptions. Except for a solid red mark in its middle. Surrounded by a thick red circle, a decagram, a ten point star was centered on the book's cover.

It pained Eon to need to have such a malevolent item out in the light of day, but he needed it regardless.

"Whatcha got there?" Kaossandra's voice came suddenly from behind Eon, which made the ghostly portal master jump in surprise.

"Oh, K-Kaossandra!" Eon stuttered. "I'm just doing a little bit of light reading." He lied cheaply, scratching the back of his head, trying to cover the black book with his ghostly body and looking away from Kaossandra.

"You're doing light reading?" Kaossandra began. "With one of Strykore's illegal spell books?" She said seeing through Eon, literally and metaphorically.

Eon then gave a defeated sigh. "Alright, you win. I'm trying to see of there was anything we missed about the spell Omen is using on the Knights of Solitude, to see if there is any chance of us helping them."

Kaossandra didn't look happy, when she spoke she expresed it. "Eon, you know we both looked at this thing almost a hundred times since we managed to get it from Strykore. What do you expect to find now?" She asked crossing her arms.

Eon let out a long sigh. He wasn't sure himself what he was looking for. "I just wanted to see if I could help Spyro." He got out, making Kaossandra soften up slightly. "You know how he's conflicted about the innocence of the dragons behind shell of the Knights of Solitude. I thought that perhaps, hidden in the pages of the book that bore the dark magic to create those fiends, I could find something to ease his conscience."

"Eon." Kaossandra began in a softer voice. "I know that you worry about Spyro, but if he is going to figure this out, he needs to do it by himself."

Suddenly Eon heard a familiar ringtone sound nearby. He recognized it to be from Kaossandra's phone. She drew the ringing device from her right pocket and answered the incoming call.

"Yes? Who is it?" Kaossandra demanded through the little hologram that was projected out of her phone.

The blue circular projection showed who Eon recognized to be Snapshot. The blue reptilian Skylander seemed to be very distressed. When he spoke, he showed it. "Headmistress Kaossandra, there has been a breach in Cloudcracker Prison!" Snapshot announced.

"What!?" Kaossandra and Eon shouted at the same time.

"What is the situation?" Kaossandra asked urgently.

"One of the Doom Raiders has disappeared!" Snapshot began. "Golden Queen is missing from her cell and we have no idea how it even happened!"

"Only Golden Queen disappeared?" Kaossandra asked confused. "Did you speak to the other Doom Raiders, then?"

"We tried." Snapshot stated. "But they have all refused to talk. They did however-" Snapshot paused, making Kaossandra and Eon listen in eagerly. "Ask for Team Spyro to come to Cloudcracker prison. They refused to say why, but if I had to guess, its because they are the only ones they'll talk to."

Eon darked, furrowing his brow in thought. _"What is going on with this? Are the Knights of Solitude involved?"_ He wandered.

"Well, I doubt we have a choice." Kaossandra sighed. "We will get Team Spyro ready and over to Cloudcracker prison as soon as possible." She said as she hung up.

"With Sprocket's Relay Badges, This shouldn't take too long." Eon began. "I believe this matter should be resolved as quickly as possible to avoid any further complications." Eon said, turning around to the malevolent spellbook on the desk in front of him.

"On that, we agree." Kaossandra said. "I'll get the Skylanders ready, meanwhile, you put that horrible _thing_ back to where it was." She ordered as she pointed at the book and began to walk away to Eon's desk.

Eon stood in his place, still looking at the red and black cover of the evil tome. _"Am I really doing everything I can to help him?"_ He wandered. He then let out a short sigh. _"Even if not, I should already know better than to try this."_ He concluded, using what little magic he had in his ethereal form to transfer the dark book back to the depths of the Relic Room.

* * *

Spyro was on his way to the Portal Gates to meet his fellow Skylanders. He flew through the Academy grounds and soon landed on the clearing in front of the Portal Gates, where Eruptor, Pop Fizz, Jet-Vac, Cynder, Stealth Elf and Sprocket where waiting for him.

Spyro felt a sting of concern shoot through his mind when he looked at Stealth Elf. He remembered what had happened not such a long time ago. He remembered how Stealth Elf had been hurt, not just physically, but emotionally by Cyrus, during their battle on Winter Keep. He remembered how Cyrus had insulted Ninjini's dream for Stealth Elf, something she took very seriously. He also remembered how Cyrus burned Stealth Elf's hand. Flashes of the pain he had felt when the evil purple dragon had hit him with his infernal green flames, and couldn't help but feel concern.

"Elfy? How are you doing?" Spyro asked his friend caringly.

Stealth Elf looked over to Spyro and gave him a steady smile. "I'm alright Spyro, no need for you to worry."

"You better listen to her." Eruptor started. "After she drinked some of that Healing Elixir we had stashed away-" Eruptor continued, making Spyro recall the blue potion his friends had gotten from the Underworld a long time ago, which had been powerful enough to heal the wound Cyrus had inflicted on him. "She insisted on going on another mission as soon as possible." The magma Skylander explained.

"Well, If she really thinks she's ready." Sprocket interjected from behind the Skylanders. "I think she should prove it." She challenged her friend, with friendly intent.

"Just give us the badges and I will." Stealth Elf replied energetically.

"Alright, here you go." Sprocket said as she drew a bronze chest, which once opened, revealed the Relay Badges the Skylanders had used effectively once before, when tracing down, the Knights of Solitude's lair.

As the Skylanders proceeded to place the badges on their chests, they got ready for Sprocket to send them away to Cloudcracker prison.

"Alright team." Spyro began. "Let's get this mess sorted out."

* * *

Spyro felt himself touch down suddenly onto rough stone flooring. He opened his eyes slowly, still a little dazzled from the bright light from the Portal Gates taking him to his destination. He soon composed himself though, looked around, confirming that all his friends were with him and confirming that they had indeed arrived on Cloudcracker Prison's courtyard.

"Skylanders!" Spyro turned his head to see Snapshot calling him and his friends. The senior Skylander walked toward them quickly. "You really got here quickly."

"You say we needed to." Spyro started. "So here we are, pal. You said the Doom Raiders wanted to talk to us?" He questioned.

"Yes." Snapshot confirmed. "They've been very insistent on it. So if you could just get down there so we can figure out what happened, that'd be very much appreciated."

"Of course Snapshot." Jet-Vac began behind Spyro. "We'll have those crooks talking in no time."

"I sure hope so." Snapshot said after a short sigh. "This is all is getting a little too intricate for my taste." He said.

"That makes two of us pal." Pop Fizz agreed simply.

"Well then." Spyro picked up. "Let's get to it."

* * *

"Can you tell me what you saw when Golden Queen disappeared?" Jet-Vac asked Wolfgang.

"I can." Wolfgang answered. "As soon as everyone not in you little crew of losers beats it." He added disdainfully.

"We are all going to listen to this Wolfgang." Snapshot interjected. The reptilian Skylander was standing beside Jet-Vac, looking expectantly at the Doom Raider. "Whether you like it or not, this is a matter that concerns any Skylander capable of tending to it, so that includes me."

"Well, in that case." Wolfgang began, walking away from his cell bars and turning his back on the Skylanders. "I guess nobody is gonna know what happened to the Queen."

"Yeah!" The rest of the Doom Raiders in the lower wing agreed in unison.

"We ain't gonna spill any beans unless it's theirs!" Pepper Jack stated boldly, pointing at Team Spyro.

"Yeah! You have faced off with this, Knights of Solitude freak show-" Chompy Mage began, gripping his cell bars. "So, you are the only ones who can handle this little mess for us."

Jet-Vac ran the situation through his head, thinking of how best to handle this. He figured if it would move things along, then they had to listen to the Doom Raiders.

"Snapshot." Jet-Vac called, making his fellow Skylander look over to him. "I think it's best if you leave us alone with them."

"What?" Snapshot exclaimed. "You can't be seriously giving into what they wa-"

"If a little delay in communication is what it takes to get any sort of clue on this matter-" Jet-Vac interrupted. "Then so be it. We need as much information as we can get Snapshot and as quickly as we can get it."

Snapshot looked like he wanted to argue something, but after staying still and frowning, he conceded. "Alright, just get it over with quickly." He said, as he began to walk away to the lower wing exit.

Once Snapshot left the lower wing hallway, dropping the large metallic gate behind him an leaving the Skylanders and Doom Raiders alone, Jet-Vac insisted once again.

"Alright Wolfgang." Jet-Vac started. "It just us now-" He said, gesturing to his fellow Skylanders. "So, talk."

Wolfgang then gave a smug grin. "I can't actually tell you anything, I was knocked out for most of it." Wolfgang stated shamelessly, making the Skylanders get a little annoyed.

"Well then who can?" Jet-Vac asked, an exasperated tone in his voice.

" _I_ can!" A squeaky, annoying voice shouted from a different cell in the lower wing.

Jet-Vac gave out a short, annoyed groan, almost as an involuntary reflex to the bothersome being who had just announced himself.

"Broccoli Guy?" Cynder asked dumbfounded from behind Jet-Vac. "You know what happened here?"

"I do!" Broccoli Guy stated proudly before giving a nasal giggle. "In fact, I'd be willing to say I know more about this kind of stuff than you guys!" He taunted, before giggling again.

"Well then." Jet-Vac picked up, walking over to Broccoli Guy's cell, where the tiny Doom Raider floated idly near the bars, a smirk on his green face. "Are you going to tell us what you know?" Jet-Vac asked.

"Hmmm." Broccoli Guy hummed out loud, tapping his chin with one of his hands in thought. "I don't know. Why should I?"

"Because they can find Golden Queen greens-for-brains." Dream Catcher stated in an annoyed tone from her cell nearby.

"Oh right!" Broccoli Guy said, before giggling in loudly yet again, beginning to make his way to Jet-Vac's nerves.

"Well?" Jet-Vac inquired. "What can you tell us?"

"Every letter in the alphabet!" Broccoli Guy said proudly.

"About what happened here!" Jet-Vac yelled, tired of the Doom Raider's antics.

"Ohhh, okay, I get what you want!" Broccoli Guy said in understanding, making Jet-Vac, the Skylanders and even the Doom Raiders, all give out a long, relieved sigh.

"Well, so here's what happened." Broccoli Guy began, making the Skylanders focus on him. "We were all wallowing in our cells, enjoying prison life, when suddenly, Queenie gave a weird speech about how we all aren't what we used to be and how we suck nowadays."

"I can see that happening." Spyro joked behind Jet-Vac.

"Then, out of nowhere-" Broccoli guy continued, doing a theatrical motion with his hands and speaking in a weird voice. "This really scary voice sounded through the air." Broccoli Guy said, making the Skylanders listen in. "It sounded something like metal parts scraping against each other, it was really nasty to listen to."

Then, a flash of a dark memory crossed through Jet-Vac's mind. He remembered his encounter with a very peculiar villian, one he had been knocked out by and had been responsible for the death of the Great Ninjini.

"Did you see who is was that was speaking?" Spyro asked from behind Jet-Vac.

"Well I'm not sure." Broccoli guy stated. "There was this really funky looking creep who showed up from a hole in the ground." He added, making the Skylanders react. "I think he said his name was Ulman, or something."

" _Omen?_ " Jet-Vac began. "You saw Omen, come here to nab the Golden Queen?" The senior Skylanders asked, dumbfounded by the strange villain's sudden movement.

"Yeaaaah, that's right, Omen he said his name was." Broccoli Guy confirmed. "He took the Queen through that weird hole he made on the ground-" He added, pointing over to the floor between Wolfgang and Golden Queen's cells. "And then he vanished!"

"Can you tell us anything else about this whole thing?" Jet-Vac inquired, trying to get as much information as possible.

"Weeeeell" Broccoli Guy hummed, spinning in his place and smiling goofily. "I may have noticed _something_." He coaxed.

At that, Jet-Vac could feel himself frown. "You want something in exchange?" He asked, already knowing the answer. "How do we even know you actually know anything else about this?"

"How am I supposed to know that?" Broccoli Guy asked back.

Jet-Vac couldn't tell if that really had been an honest doubt or a sly bait, but he continued, after a long sigh. "What do you want?" He asked the Doom Raider.

"Yeah, Broccoli Guy!" Wolfgang shouted from his cell. "Tell em what we want!" He said, before giving out a malevolent laugh as the rest of the Doom Raiders joined in.

"If you punks think we're gonna let you lose over this." Eruptor began angrily. "You've got another thing coming!" He shouted across the lower wing.

"Yeah!" Stealth Elf shouted. "Besides I doubt you want us to lock you all up here, _again_!"

Jet-Vac however, hung his head. They needed to know what this whole mess was leading to. If Omen had come to handle this matter himself, then it meat it was a big deal. So, in order to get things over with, Jet-Vac was ready to let the Doom Raiders lose once again. He was about to give into the Doom Raiders' demand for freedom, but Broccoli Guy spoke suddenly.

"I want to go to your Academy." He said simply, shocking the Skylanders and making the Doom Raiders suddenly stop laughing.

"Come again?" Jet-Vac asked, completely taken back by the green Doom Raider's statement.

"I wanna go to your Academy!" Broccoli repeated.

"Broccoli Guy!" Dream Catcher yelled from her cell. "That's not what we agreed to demand!"

"Yeah, what are you doing you playin' at!?" Pepper Jack demanded.

"What do you want to do at the Academy?" Jet-Vac asked.

"There is something there I need to keep helping you." Broccoli Guy stated. "Or at least I think it's there." He added, scratching his head and looking to the ceiling, as if trying to remember a distant memory.

"Broccoli Guy!" Wolfgang roared from his cell. "If I ever get out of this cell, I'm gonna make a meal out of you!" He bellowed, shaking the thick bars in rage.

"Yeah right!" Broccoli Guy yelled. "Like you of all people would know how to cook broccoli!" He shouted at his fellow Doom Raider.

"Well I suppose you're rather harmless on your own." Jet-Vac said considering the situation. "And if you're going to keep helping us, I suppose it couldn't hurt to let you visit."

"Woah, JV." Spyro interjected suddenly. "Are we really bringing a Doom Raider to the Academy?"

"We have to." Jet-Vac began, looking behind his head to see Spyro. "If he truly is capable of helping us any further, then we have to compromise with him." He said, turning his head back to Broccoli Guy.

When he did, he caught Broccoli Guy absentmindedly picking his nose, disgusting Jet-Vac and making him regret his decision even more than before, but after a long sigh, he concreted his resolve. If this was the cost to beating Omen to whatever his plan's punchline was, he was willing to give it a try.

* * *

Spyro was standing on the Academy balcony. In front of him Master Eon's ethereal from and Kaossandra were looking down on a handcuffed Broccoli Guy. His fellow Skylanders were all standing behind him as they waited for the elder portal masters and Broccoli Guy to get to their business.

After they had returned to the Academy using the recall function on Sprocket's Relay Badges, they had brought Broccoli Guy over to Eon and Kaossandra because he apparently had to ask them for something before he could help.

The whole thing smelled quite rotten to Spyro, but it's not like had a choice. He and his friends needed any help they could get in order to beat Omen and the Knights of Solitude after all.

"What is it you need exactly?" Kaossandra demanded, crossing her eyes and cutting to the chase.

"I need a special book!" Broccoli Guy stated. "I hear I could find it here!"

"There are many books across many places in the Skylands." Eon asked, also crossing his arms. "Which book are you referring to?"

"It's a really special book." Broccoli said. "It has a ton of really nasty magic. I also think I remember something else about it." He paused. "Yeah, the cover had this weird symbol, like creepy star, with ten points."

Spyro imagined it was a spellbook of some sort, nothing truly special. But then, he lifted his head to look at Eon and Kaossandra and that mindset left quickly. Both portal masters had tensed up and looked utterly shocked. Their eyes were round and they looked at Broccoli Guy as if he had done something horrible.

"How do you know about that book?" Eon asked slowly, quietly.

"Well it's a long story." Broccoli Guy started. "But let's just say, a little bird told me about it a long time ago." he said maliciously. "Either way, I need it, and you guys have it in here somewhere."

"Master Eon." Spyro began. "What kind of book is he talking about?"

Master Eon draken up and slumped his shoulders, lowering his head as well. "Kaossandra?" He called the sorceress.

She seemed to hesitate, shifting her gaze between Eon and Broccoli Guy. But after a few moments, she gave out a sigh, and closed her eyes. With a snap of her fingers, which flashed with pink magic, a strange book appeared out of thin air with a loud popping noise and a pink burst of mist.

It fell slowly and landed softly on the wooden table beside the Relic Room vault door. It was thick with many pages. It's covers were a really dark black, and incomprehensible symbols were scattered all over the top cover. However, Spyro managed to identify a particular symbol, one Broccoli Guy had described. A ten point star, surrounded by a circle, a decagram.

"Ahhh! You do have it!" Broccoli Guy exclaimed, floating over to the erie book.

"Hold on." Kaossandra said suddenly. "What are you going to do with it?" She asked.

"This book is called The Black Savant's Hand!" Broccoli guy exclaimed. "It's got a whole _bunch_ of super, duper cool dark magic!" Broccoli Guy stated excitedly, running his hands over the book's cover. "I heard Strykore got his hands on it somehow! I was super jealous when I heard!"

"Well you shouldn't be." Kaossandra said, cuttingly. "Half of that book is just red scribbles and insane doodling. And the spells that are in there are not something someone like you could cast." She stated.

"Ohhh no." Broccoli Guy began, as he started to open The Black Savant's Hand and scroll through it's pages. "All of this-" He gestured at the book's pages, which were covered in strange symbols, like the ones on the cover, Spyro could not identify. "Are some of the most powerful dark magic workings I've ever seen! Whoever made this is a genius!" He said, fawning over the book and swiping slowly across it's pages.

"You… Can understand all of that?" Eon asked, a surprised tone in his voice.

"Yup! It's a really old and super obscure cypher." Broccoli Guy stated, still looking through the books pages. "It was used only by the absolute worst of the worst. Strykore must have had a lot of connections with the higher-ups of the dark magic system if he managed to get his hands on something like this!"

"I believe that's quite likely." Eon stated. "This tainted item held many of the dark magic spells Strykore used to become as powerful as he did, including his Light Syphoning." The portal master said.

"Yeah! And that's just the beginning!" Broccoli Guy exclaimed energetically. "For all of Strykore's fame as _The Light Eater,_ he had to have been a little over glorified. I mean, look at all this cool stuff he couldn't use just because it was encrypted with this cypher!" He said, almost reaching halfway through the book. "Soul draining, Hellblaze casting, Dark matter control, Immortality…" The Doom Raider listed down. "Torture brands- Oh, those sound nasty!" He exclaimed.

Something nagged at the back of Spyro's head when he heard that last one, making him flinch slightly, but he remained silent, for he wasn't entirely sure what it was.

"And would you look at that!" Broccoli Guy said suddenly, stopping at a particular page in the book. "Unrestricted portal-casting, the spell that creepy dude used to take Golden Queen away!"

"Well, how is this going to help us find Golden Queen and Omen?" Kaossandra demanded.

"This spell uses coordinates and runes." Broccoli Guy stated. "When you cast it, you need to put in the coordinates of where you want to go using the book's cypher. I noticed that the same cypher was laying around the portal the creepy dude used to get in and out of Cloudcracker Prison. I guess those were the coordinated to get inside, because once he grabbed Golden Queen and was ready to leave, he changed the coordinates and then hopped inside, probably going off to their hidey hole." Broccoli Guy finished, saying the last few words in a singsong voice, as if teasing the Skylanders.

"Well, where did they go?" Eon asked.

"Ohhh no." Broccoli Guy began. "If I just tell you, you'll lock me up again! I'm going to tell you, the coordinates _near_ , the place we need to go and I'll lead you on from there." He stated.

"Urgh, fine!" Kaossandra said exasperated.

"And one more thing." Broccoli Guy added suddenly. "I will also need the book." He said, pointing at the dark tome on the table.

"Absolutely not." Eon started with a grave voice. "If this is the book really is The Black Savant's Hand, then we cannot afford it to leave the Academy. If anything we should get to destroying it right now."

"Aww, but I like this book!" Broccoli Guy complained, resting his head on it's opened pages.

"It doesn't matter what you like." Kaossandra snapped. "You're job now it to tell us, where Omen took your little Queen."

"Alright, alright." Broccoli Guy conceded, getting up and turning around to face the Skylanders. "When do you guys wanna leave?"

* * *

Spyro was standing on the Portal Gates, surrounded by his friends and with Broccoli Guy. They were ready to go to the coordinates Broccoli Guy had given them.

"This better not be a trap." Eruptor growled at Broccoli Guy.

"Heyyy." Broccoli Guy responded. "I'm no liar! I'll take you to this Omen fella so you can help the Queen!"

"Well, the Portal Gates are ready." Sprocket announced as she input Broccoli Guy's coordinates on a small panel near the main portal. "You all have your Relay Badges?" She asked.

Spyro looked down to see the small copper insignia. Its rim glowing with a dim blue light. "Well I do." He said out loud.

"I think we all do to be honest." Pop Fizz said. "Even if not, we can still bring two people with us right?"

"If you're close enough." Sprocket said. "Just remember; You should only activate three badges at the same time, else, really bad thing could happen with where you end up." She reminded the Skylanders.

"Noted." Jet-Vac stated. "We'll be quite careful. This isn't going to go like last time." He promised.

"Right!" The Skylanders shouted in unison.

"Well Sprocket, I think we're ready." Spyro stated. "Let's do this."

"You got it!" Sprocket exclaimed. She then passed a couple more buttons on her panel and with a burst of light, the Skylanders were enveloped in a white beam and sent to their mission.

* * *

Cynder walked behind Broccoli Guy as he led them through a strange swamp. The sky was cloudy and grey. Dim light pierced the clouds as the Skylanders flowed Broccoli Guy. However the tiny Doom Raider had been making them walk through the damp environment of the swamp for a couple of minutes now and they were getting a little cranky.

"Do you think he's really leading us to Golden Queen?" Cynder asked silently, swaying her head closer to Spyro, who walked beside her.

"I don't know." He responded quietly. "He's kind of a weirdo, you can't really tell what he is thinking."

"I can hear you!" Broccoli Guy stated loudly as he continued to float ahead of the Skylanders. "You aren't very nice!"

Cynder and Spyro then straightened out, a little unserved at the Doom Raider's keen hearing.

"We are almost there!" Broccoli Guy announced as he led the Skylanders further into the swamp. The drabby trees and damp environment began to disperse as they kept moving.

"How do you even know where we're going?" Jet-Vac, who was walking beside Broccoli Guy asked.

"I have a very good sense of direction." Broccoli Guy stated simply. "Trust me, we almost reach the coordinates where the creepy dude took Golden Queen."

A short wait afterwards, the Skylanders suddenly stepped into a wide clearing in the swamp. The clearing was quite a few meters wide and was covered in dark green grass. However, at the middle of the clearing, was a huge hole, into which the ground nearby seemed to sink inside of. The hole itself was dark, unnaturally dark, almost like it swallowed the dim light as well as the ground around it.

"Please don't tell me that's it." Eruptor begged, peeking at the dark sinkhole before him and his friends.

"Ohh that's it alright." Broccoli Guy stated. "He took Queenie down there." The Doom Raider pointed with both of his shackled hands. "I guess that means this is his lair or something."

"Well, I think we can all appreciate-" Pop Fizz began as he walked closer to the sinkhole. "How Omen always gets the entrances to his lairs to look this creepy."

Cynder looked at the gaping sinkhole. The unnatural darkness, and the erie aura of the place made her feel really uneasy.

"Well, I'm afraid that this is it Broccoli Guy." Jet-Vac said, turning to face Broccoli Guy. "You've gotten us to the lair, so since we no longer need your help, we'll be sending you back to the Academy, and from there back to Cloudcracker Prison."

However, Broccoli Guy simply floated in his place, looking intently at the sinkhole, not paying any mind ot Jet-Vac.

"Hey, did you hear me?" Jet-Vac asked the Doom Raider loudly.

Suddenly, Broccoli Guy moved with surprising speed, shooting across the clearing toward the sinkhole, giggling loudly and obnoxiously as he approached the sinkhole's mouth, leaving the Skylanders behind him.

"Hey wait!" Stealth Elf shouted from behind Cynder. "Don't go in there!"

Broccoli Guy paid her no mind. He was hovering over the dark sinkhole's mouth. He turned around, smiling widely and sinisterly at the Skylanders. "So long Skylosers!" He shouted, before swan diving into the sinkhole, giggling loudly. His laughter echoed weaker as he disappeared into the darkness.

"Oh brother." Jet-Vac let out, slumping his shoulders. "Now we have that to worry about."

"Well, at least he brought us here." Spyro said, trying to be optimistic. "So, umm… who wants to go in first?" He asked shakily.

Cynder suddenly remembered what had happened the last time she and her friends had gotten into a fight with Omen in his own turf. The surreal villian had, in all honesty, moped his floor with them. He had even managed to take on and even defeat one of the legendary Giants. Needless to say, she wasn't very eager to face off with him again and by the looks on her friends faces, the feeling was collective.

"Nobody? Alright then." Spyro picked up suddenly, making everyone focus on him. Then, the purple dragon swallowed hard before taking a couple of steps forward toward the sinkhole's mouth.

"Spyro wait!" Cynder called suddenly, making her friend stop in his tracks. "We don't know what's down there, except that it's something we've faced before and that… we failed to defeat." She said, darkening slightly. "So-" She picked up. "We can't afford to do the same mistakes we made that time."

"She's right." Stealth Elf, began suddenly, walking up to Spyro. "We failed last time because we didn't know what we were up against and because we let him get the drop on us, but this time, it's going to be different." She said. Stealth Elf then looked down at her ninja daggers, one of which was covered with dark burn marks, from that time Cyrus had burned her hand. "I swear this time, if we work together, we can get this done."

"That's the way to talk!" Eruptor shouted. "So, we all jump in at the same time or what?" He asked, walking up to the sinkhole's mouth.

"I mean, it's a really big hole." Pop Fizz said, as he walked up to his friends. "We could probably all fit in."

"Then it's settled." Cynder spoke up. "We all go in together."

The Skylanders then all positioned themselves around the sinkhole, making a widespread circle, all ready to jump into the abyss, ready to face Omen once again. So after a short pause, they all yelled. "Skylanders, Unite!" before jumping into the sinkhole.

* * *

Kaossandra slumped to her knees, utterly drained of her strength. She breathed hard as she stared at the ground inside the Relics Room. She remembered only feeling this taxed after she had been drained of her magic by Kaos.

"Kaossandra, please stop." Eon spoke softly from behind her. "This is clearly no use." The portal master said in a down tone.

"You're telling me." Kaossandra panted as she lifted her head to look at the rising stream of smoke in front of her.

As the dark vapours dispersed, The Black Savant's Hand, lay intact at the center of a small scorched circle, product of Kaossandra using almost all of her magic in an attempt to destroy the foul book.

"The darkness that binds this book together is far beyond either of our capabilities to destroy." Eon stated. "The best we can do is keep it where no one could ever find or use it."

"I suppose." Kaossandra agreed reluctantly. "In any case, that isn't even the most pressing matter right now."

"Indeed." Eon agreed soberly "The Skylanders are about to face Omen once again, an the consequences of their defeat last time still resonate to this day." He said, remembering the unfortunate event that occurred during the last battle with the surreal villian.

"Well thankfully." Kaossandra began. "Their mission this time, isn't to fight him. Its to retrieve Golden Queen."

"What would that villian want with her anyway?" Eon asked.

"I don't know." Kaossandra stated. "I'm certain he has his reasons. I'm also certain none of them are good."

"I just hope the Skylanders are able to return all in one piece this time." Eon said worriedly as he began to pace, or rather float through the Relics Room.

"Fate moves strangely around that monster." Kaossandra began, recalling how Omen had somehow managed to defeat one of the Giants, something a great deal of both evil-doers and heroes thought was impossible task. "Whatever happens, I'm sure we'll remember it."

* * *

Spyro walked slowly through a dark tunnel underground. The air smelled damp and the darkness around him was exceptionally deep. He couldn't have seen his own snout if it weren't for Eruptor lighting the way. Thanks to his friend, Spyro could see the walls of the tunnel. From the looks of it, this was once a mining figured from the wooden support beams and the worn down minecart railing on the earthy floor.

"We should try to stay undetected." Jet-Vac suggested as the senior skylander walked beside Spyro. "I think it's needless to say we can't beat Omen and his goons in head to head combat. Besides, our mission is to retrieve Golden Queen, not to challenge him."

"Let's not forget our little green friend." Eruptor added. "We should probably take Broccoli Guy with us too."

"Alright then, how do we stay hidden from them?" Cynder asked as the Skylanders kept moving through the damp tunnel.

"We need to be careful." Jet-Vac began. "This is enemy territory and we don't know what to expect. So we need to find some sort of way, to see further ahead than them."

"How do we do that?" Pop Fizz asked confused.

"We will first need to find both Doom Raiders." Jet-Vac stated. "And by the looks of this place, that could take a while."

"Guys!" Eruptor called from the front of the group, making them all stop suddenly. "We have a situation."

Cynder walked ahead to see what the problem was. Once she made her way to where Eruptor was, she saw what he meant by "situation." A large wooden elevator lay in front of them. It looked rustic and worn, made of thick wooden logs and planks. A small lever on the elevator, purposed for lifting and lowering the contraption. It was held in the air by metal chains and a worn-looking winch on the right side of the tunnel.

"I guess, we need to go down?" Cynder guessed, looking at the sturdy wooden contraption.

"I would guess so?" Stealth Elf said. "I guess it's the only way forward."

"Well then." Spyro began, walking onto the wooden platform on the elevator. "Let's get going. Those Doom Raiders aren't going to catch themselves."

"Alright! let's go!" Cynder exclaimed, filled up with determination.

"Yeah!" The rest of the Skylanders said in unison as they all climbed onto the elevator.

Afterwards, Spyro hit the wooden lever with his tail, swinging it to its left, and suddenly causing the elevator to slowly descend lower, into the belly of the beast.

Spyro waited patiently as the elevator carrying him and his friends down the dark descent. He was leaning on one of the corners of the medium sized wooden box as it descended while his friends were sitting, standing or pacing around. Several things were crossing through his mind. First and more predominantly, was a sense of unease. Omen had proven himself to be a very dangerous enemy to face and the last time they had fought him, it had not gone well. Spyro couldn't help but get a bad feeling about facing him again.

Then, Spyro was concerned about the whole Doom Raider mess. He didn't know how it was going to pan out, and in a situation like the one they were in, that kind wild card was really stressful.

Finally, Spyro had something resonating in the back of his mind. It was nagging at his conscience, keeping him restless. He had been having this dim feeling, like the kind you get when you feel like you've forgotten something important but can't remember what it was. This feeling had been getting stronger and stronger the more he met one particular person. Every time he met Cyrus, something clicked in the darkest parts of Spyro's mind, like pieces of something important coming together.

Suddenly, Spyro was knocked out of his deep thoughts by a sudden shaking on the elevator. The wooden box had hit the floor, leaving the Skylanders faced with a large cavernous opening, the main cavern of the would-be mine, they all guessed.

The cavern was huge, riddled with several wooden counstructs like platforms, pulleys, cranes, minecarts, and ladders. The woodwork was exceptional, for although it was covered in years worth of dust, it had al held together, even the platforms that rose and stuck to the stone walls of the humongous cavern. The whole place lit dimly by strange braziers, alit with unnatural blue flames, which gave the Skylanders an uncomfortable sense of deja-vu. Those were the same flames on Omen's previous lair, giving them a little bit of a warning that the malevolent garbage man might indeed be around. The braziers were spread across several locations on the cavern, including on the elevated platforms.

"Man, how does Omen find these places?" Spyro wandered out loud.

"I think we should all keep it down from now on." Stealth Elf suggested as she pulled up her bandana. "They could hear us, and remember, this is a _rescue._ " She quoted the last word as if acknowledging the technicality of the term in this scenario.

"You got it." Eruptor said in a hoarse whisper as he lowered his head.

"Alright." Spyro started quietly, also lowering his head, cueing the rest of his friends to do the same. "Where should we start looking?" He asked, looking around the massive cavern.

"What do you _meeeean_ , that's not a good idea!?" A shrill, metallic voice sounded suddenly through the cavern, making the Skylanders cover their ears and wince in discomfort.

The horrible and dreadfully familiar voice seemed to come from a strange pathway, the which was covered with minecart tracks. On the sides of this pathway, stood a couple of wooden elevations, both of which had thick wooden ladders on their sides, to allow people to climb onto them.

"I think we should start there, right?" Cynder suggested. "Maybe get on those wooden things to have the high ground? I heard that's kind of important."

"Might as well." Spyro agreed, beginning to walk slowly over to the source of the metallic voice. "If that's who I think it is, chances are, that who we are looking for is nearby."

At that, the Skylanders proceeded to walk and climb onto the two wooden elevations, dividing into two groups. On the left side were Cynder, Stealth Elf and Jet-Vac and on the right side, were Spyro, Eruptor and Pop Fizz. All the Skylanders walked slowly, trying to avoid making the wood under their feet creak and reveal their position. They walked through the platforms' leight toward where they they had heard the strange voice. They noticed the elevations were littered with crates, barrels and braziers lit with blue flames.

"I don't understand the plan exactly." A new voice said. This one was easier to track down, more grounded. It also sounded gravely and rough. "This all a lot to take in, with my, promotion and all." The voice continued.

" _Promotion? What is going on?"_ Spyro wandered, walking slightly faster, wanting to see what this strange conversation was about.

"Look, I know you're excited about this whole _Promotion_ thing." The first voice said. "But you really have to get your head in the game, man!"

Spyro noticed that they were getting close to a sort of edge on the platforms they stood on. The voices had gotten a lot louder since they walked along the platforms. Now, across the edge, the Skylanders noticed there were multiple stacks of crates and barrels, similar to the ones they had seen before.

Spyro gently placed his back against the stack of crates. He looked to his sides to see his fellow Skylanders, beside him and on the other platform do the same with what cover they had available. After a short breath, Spyro turned around and lifted his head to see what was going on.

In front and below him, was a large, circular space, riddled with minecart tracks that crossed and intertwined with each other and that later separated into single tracks, which led off into several different locations on the mine, through wide pathways like the ones tha Skylanders had come from. In the center of this clearing, standing in sort of circle, as if in a macabre meeting, stood four figures.

The most outstanding one, was who Spyro recognised as Omen. The surreal-looking villian had a way of standing out quite easily. He was facing forward and staring down on the other three figures. He looked a little angry, his purple eyes were curled down and narrow. The next person Spyro recognised was Cyrus. The purple dragon was facing back form Spyro, so the Skylander couldn't see his face. However, Spyro noticed that he was shaking albeit lightly. The third figure Spyro recognised was the massive cyclop Enumat. The hulking monster was also facing toward Omen and had his arms crossed, standing to Cyru's right. Spyro noticed his helmet looked different. It was now decorated with a single stripe of purple rock, like that of a spartan helmet.

Finally, Spyro looked at the third figure which stood to Cyrus' left. This one was new, However Spyro could notice some disturbing details about it. It seemed humanoid and quite tall, but it's body was covered in a very familiar darkness. The same darkness that covered the Knights of Solitude, perfect and detailess.

" _I've got a bad feeling about this."_ Spyro thought to himself while he watched silently as the villians spoke.

"I only got hired like, yesterday!" Enumat suddenly spoke. "Me and my guys aren't caught up with what we're doing here."

"Urgh!" Omen grunted in annoyance, taking his dark wooden hands and doing something that would have reminicend to him pulling his hair out if he had any. "I already told you, we're looking for two dragons, one of the Undead element and one of the Magic element. I need them for something important."

"What do you need them for?" Enumat asked curiously.

"That part is a little bit of a secret." Omen dodged the question. "What you need to know is this: You and your cyclops are going to be working as my little army. I'm too unmotivated to try and bargain with the trolls to recruit them, and since Cyrus-" Omen turned to face his other minion, who lowered his head meekly. "Wandered into you, I decided to roll with the punches."

"Okaaay." Enumat started slowly. "So, my job is to crush whoever get in your way?" He asked tentatively.

"Pretty much, yeah!" Omen said in a happy tone.

"Well alright! I like my new job!" Enumat cheered.

"Hah, that's the spirit!" Omen cheered as well. "Why can't you be like him, boy?" He then asked Cyrus, who didn't answer. Instead he kept shaking, lowering his head even more.

"I do have one question though." Enumar began, making Omen focus on him. "What's she here for?"

" _She?"_ Spyro wondered if he had heard that right.

"Oh, Goldie here-" Ome began, floating over to the dark humanoid figure beside Cyrus. "Is a key ingredient for my little project. You see, I need a sizeable amount of gold, alongside my little dragons in order to get my little ritual working. I had the gold ready in my old lair until _someone-_ " Omen suddenly bent down almost to eye level with Cyrus, who gave a small whimper. "Got my lair found and destroyed.

"I s-said I was sorry." Cyrus said, almost in a whisper.

"And _I_ said." Omen began in a dangerous voice, suddenly picking Cyrus off the ground by the back of his neck with one of his hands, making the dragon hang limply in the air. "That _sorry_ didn't cut it."

"Umm, should I be here for this?" Enumat asked in an uncomfortable tone.

"Oh no, my friend." Omen said suddenly, his disembodied voice now calm and appealing, if it weren't for the metallic resonance behind it. "In fact, you should get going! You boys must be waiting for you."

At that, Omen stretched out his free hand and drew a wide circle through the air a few feet away from him. His wooden hand left behind a glowing purple trace, that once it made a full circle, created a pitch black hole in the air large enough for Enumat to cross. After a few seconds, strange runes, some of which Spyro remembered from the black book back at the Academy, appeared around the edge of the dark circle.

"That's going to take me to your base, right?" Enumat asked, pointing at the portal. "That's where all of my guys are at?"

"Indeed!" Omen exclaimed, still in a cheerful voice, still gripping a shaking Cyrus by the neck. "And, could you do me a favor? Take Goldie with you, she needs to get working as soon as possible."

"Aye, aye, new boss!" Enumat said, saluting Omen before walking over to who Spyro was now getting a feeling was actually Golden Queen and taking her hand, then dragging her dark figure with him to the portal.

"Have a nice day!" Omen said in a warm voice as he waved Enumat away.

"Thanks boss!" Enumat said, waving back. Afterwards Spyro could swear he heard the cyclop say something under his breath. _"Man, what a nice boss."_ Then, Enumat took the darkened Golden Queen through the portal, which disappeared after the two villains crossed it.

"Now _youuuu_." Omen then picked up, his dangerous edge returning to his voice suddenly as he faced Cyrus again. "I'm still mad at you, boy. You still haven't gotten me my dragons."

"B-But…" Cyrus began shakily.

"But what!?" Omen roared suddenly, making Cyrus shrink. "Speak up, boy!"

"But I got you all the others." Cyrus began, trying to steady his voice. "I got the other six. Haven't I done enough?" He asked, almost beggingly.

"Enough!?" Omen spat, letting go off Cyrus and floating back a couple of inches. "What do you mean by, _enough!?"_

"I took all those dragons." Cyrus began, covering his face and the red mark on his forehead with his paws. "I brought them to you, you said you were proud of me…"

"Proud!? Hahaha!" Omen laughed cruelly. "Let me tell you a secret boy. The only reason you are the _captain-"_ Omen quoted the last word mockingly. "Of the Knights of Solitude is because your defining element isn't one of the ones I need for the ritual and because of you fancy little flames." He said. "I never said I was proud of you, I said you were a good henchman!"

As Spyro watched the whole exchange, he began to feel really sorry for Cyrus. Spyro had felt nothing but disdain for the sarcastic purple dragon ever since their first fight. He had hurt his friends, he had hurt the innocent dragons behind the Knights of Solitude and he had hurt him too. Spyro was always so angry at Cyrus, partly because his very existence was a disappointment to Spyro. _"All your dragon kind were heroes."_ Master Eon's words always came to his mind when he saw Cyrus, and every time he was filled with rage, because thanks to him, they weren't true anymore. But he had never stopped to think about why. Why was Cyrus this way? Why had he done all those things? Spyro believed he had found the dark answer to that question.

"I can't do this anymore." Cyrus said weakly. "I can't sleep at night, my body is always itching with pain thats not there. I… I just want." He paused, making Spyro listen eagerly. "I just want to b-"

Cyrus was suddenly cut off. Omen's hand had suddenly crashed against his throat and was not lifting him off the ground, gasping for breath.

"Listen here you little _brat_." Omen said slowly, quietly. "I couldn't care less what you _want_. You can have your little peace and quiet when you get me my dragons."

At that, something snapped in Spyro's mind. That feeling in the back of his head suddenly crashed open, overtaking him. "Well then come and get them!" Spyro shouted suddenly, his hatred of Omen magnifying his voice as he jumped out and flew over of his cover. He turned around and looked at Omen. The surreal-looking villian seemed shocked, like he didn't know Spyro was there. Then, Spyro released as powerful a fireball as he could muster. The flaming projectile fired out of his mouth and crashed violently against Omen's cage-like head, making him drop Cyrus.

"Owie! That was mildly inconvenient to my health!" Omen complained as he composed himself.

"Spyro, what are you doing!?" Stealth Elf exclaimed, jumping out of cover as well, followed by the rest of the Skylanders.

"You are _all_ here!?" Omen asked surprised. "When did you get here, how did I not sense you coming!? Argh, forget it!" Omen shouted, composing himself. "I'll just get rid of you _and_ get my dragons at the same time!" He shouted.

Afterwards, Omen's left floating string suddenly began to glow with an intense cyan color, and a static hum began emanating from it. Then, Omen's wooden chest separated by a few inches from his colorful hip, which stayed floating beneath it. Then, Omen's chest began spinning, and his glowing arm began to stretch further and further. By the time Omen was about to do a full spin, his glowing arm had stretched far enough for his hand to reach beyond the Skylanders on the platforms. As the glowing string moved to reach the Skylanders, they all ducked, dodged or teleported out of the way. As the glowing string reached the crates and barrels, it sliced through them like butter, leaving a scorched burn line where it passed through as it retracted and returned to Omen. Then, where the glowing sting had passed, the sliced halves of crates and barrels affected, slid off slowly, falling to the ground.

"Spyro, have you lost your mind!?" Jet-Vac shouted at Spyro as the senior Skylander began to fire blasts of air at Omen.

As Spyro flew through the air above Omen, shooting his fireballs at the villian, he wandered that himself. He didn't know why he had reacted like that to the way Omen treated Cyrus, but now was not the time to dwell on that, he was too busy getting out of the way of the dark wooden hand shooting up to grab him. Spyro barril rolled out of the way, avoiding Omen's grip.

"Oh, come _on_! Stay still!" Omen yelled as his red string retracted.

"I could ask the same thing to you!" Eruptor said suddenly. "Pop Fizz! Let's do it!"

"Right!" Pop Fizz agreed as he started to quickly mix potions, creating a bright orange concoction. "Bombs away!" He yelled.

Then, Pop Fizz launched his orange potion at Omen. The attack was followed up by Eruptor who released a single firebolt at Omen as well. Spyro recognised this attack combination and smirked. Omen was in for a very big blast.

But then, Omen stretched out both of his arms in front of him, the wooden hands glowing with a sinister purple aura. Then, Omen's hands grabbed both projectiles launched at him, surprising the Skylanders. In one hand, Omen held Pop Fizz, orange bottle, and in the other, the villian held Eruptor's firebolt. The elemental blast continued to smolder in Omen's hand, like fire being held in place.

"I believe." Omen began. "This is yours." He sai malevolently.

At that, Omen's arms retracted and with projectiles still in hand, Omen launched both attacks back at their casters, at speeds much greater that the first time they were fired. This closed the gap for the Skylanders to react. Spyro watched in horror as Pop Fizz's potion crashed against Eruptor's face and the magma Skylanders projectile hit Pop Fizz as well.

"Guys, no!" Stealth Elf cried as she saw her friends get knocked to the ground by their own attacks.

"Guys, _yessss!_ " Omen corrected with a small, cruel giggle. "Two down, four to go!" He said cheerfully as he dove his wooden hands into the ground, just like the last time the Skylanders had fought him.

"Guys, I think we should retreat!" Cynder yelled as she shadow dassed out of the way as one of Omen's hands erupted from the ground beside her. The dragoness then took flight, trying to avoid any further attacks.

"That sounds like a plan!" Spyro yelled back, as he maneuvered out of the way of Omen's second hand trying to grab him. The purple dragon rose and dove through the carven's space as Omen's red string continued to stretch after him.

"We'll use the badges!" Stealth Elf suggested. "They can take Eruptor and Pop With us!" She said as she teleported over to her fallen friends, walking over to Eruptor.

"Oh no you don't!" Omen shouted. "Cyrus! Do something you lazy schmuck!" He commanded his henchman.

Cyrus had remained in his place throughout the whole fight. With his head down and standing still. Spyro hadn't been able to get a good look at him, but now, Cyrus turned his head around and Spyro was able to see his face. He looked awful. The dark clines under his eyes were thicker and his eyes looked glassy, diminishing the effect of the poisonous green and snake-like pupils. He looked at Spyro dead in the eyes. When he did, Spyro could feel something different to what he had felt before every time he looked at Cyrus' eyes. Before he felt afarind, he could feel rage and agony seeping out of those inhuman green things. But now, he felt something different, he felt something else in Cyrus' eyes, a pleading sensation.

"Well?" Omen said suddenly. "Do something!"

After a short pause of hesitation, Cyrus closed his eyes, looking away from Spyro, before flapping his wings and taking flight, moving at great speeds after Spyro.

"Spyro, look out!" Spyro could hear Cynder warn.

Spyro knew what to look out for. It was charging at him through the air, with its paws glowing a bloody red, ready to swipe at him. Spyro instead dove down, lowering his head. Small flames erupted from his horns as he dove down to ram Cyrus.

"Spyro, Cynder, we need to leave!" Jet-Vac shouted. "Use your Relay Badges, now!"

"Right!" Cynder called back.

Out of the corner of his eye, Spyro saw as Cynder readied to use her Relay Badge to get called back to the Academy. But, before Spyro could feel relieved, he saw in horror as Omen's hand suddenly reached out from under Cynde and grabbed her tail, pulling her down to the ground as she gave out a surprised yelp.

"You aren't going anywhere! _Not_ when I'm this close!" Omen roared.

"Cynder!" Spyro called in distress, turning his head toward his friend, who was flapping her wings as hard as she could, trying to break free from Omen's hand, to no avail.

The next thing Spyro felt was an ice-cold set of claws slash across his face, numbing his senses. He then felt an equally ice-cold fist ram against his face and after a few seconds, he felt his back slam against the ground. Spyro saw Cyrus standing over him, looking at him with his green eyes.

"Finally…" Cyrus whispered. "It's over. I got him what he wanted" He said, with a weak smile.

Spyro then looked over to his friends. He saw Stealth Elf and Jet-Vac looking after Pop Fizz and Eruptor. He saw as Stealth Elf was ninja kicking one of Omen's hands away as it tried to reach for the fallen Skylanders. Spyro then looked over to Cynder, who was still trying her hardest to stay away from Omen, but the red string connecting the hand holding her tail and leading to the surreal villian was tensed up and retracting slowly.

"Guys! We need to leave!" Spyro shouted, trying to wrestle Cyrus off him. "Use your badges!"

"But…" Jet-Vac began. "What about what Sprock-"

"That doesn't matter!"Spyro showed. "It's now or never!" He said, grunting as he began to get leverage on Cyrus.

"Cyrus! Don't you let him go, boy!" Omen bellowed, his metallic voice shrill with rage.

At that, Spyro felt like a cruel cold began to spread through his body. He looked down at Cyrus' paws. They were glowing red, draining Spyro of his strength.

"Please…" Spyro heard Cyrus whisper, making Spyro lift his head to look at his face. "Let's just end this…" He said, not meeting Spyro's eyes.

Spyro used the dwindling bits of strength, rekindled by a burst of determination, to speak. "I'm sorry." He said. "But this can't end yet. Not here, not like this…" And with the last bits of strengths he had left, Spyro wrenched one of his arms free of Cyrus' grip, and tapped his Relay Badge twice. And then, Spyro's world was covered in a bright, blinding light as the Relay Badge took him across the Skylands.

* * *

Omen looked around, trying to comprehend what had just happened. One of its hands was missing, the one it had used to grab the Undead girl. Omen, retracted its arms as it looked for the Skylanders. All of them, every last one, was gone.

"Frick… Frack…" Omen pronounced slowly, as it also noticed that Cyrus was missing. "Patty… Whack..:" It said, slightly faster that the last two words, as Omen clenched it's remaining wooden fist. "Snick, snack…" It said, louder and faster. "Crack-pack, slack-mack!" Omen said, almost shouting the last word. "Quarterback, crackerjack, feedback, _backtrack, thumbtack, sidetrack, tic-tac!_ " Omen bellowed in rage, spouting each nonsensical word louder and faster than the last until it just sounded like Omen was speaking gibberish, it's abstract body shaking and rattling loudly as well.

After as few moments, Omen composed itself. "This is bad." Omen stated to the dark cavern's echo. "Really bad…" It said, looking emptily at the cavern ceiling.

"I might have to kill Cyrus."

* * *

 _Author's notes_

 _We are geting close to the end now... Be on the look out for the final chapters, only a few left now..._

 _\- I still don't own Skylanders Academy_

 _\- Broccoli Guy? Where did he go?_

 _\- Merry Chistmas? Still a little early isn't it?_


	10. Chapter 10

**Skylanders Academy: New Horizon**

by andresponceb2002

 **Chapter 10) Solitude**

Sprocket was looking at the monitor on the Portal Gates. Since the last time she had sent the Skylanders on a mission using the Relay Badges, she had installed a couple of upgrades on the devices. Firstly she had installed a function to track the heartbeat of the person wearing the badge. This would help her see how that person was doing in the field. Six heartbeat signals were displayed on the monitor, with the name of each corresponding Skylander beneath them.

The second upgrade, was a tracking feature. Displayed on the monitor on the Portal Gates, was a digital map of the Skylands. On this map, were six little blue dots, one for each of the Relay Badges on each of the Skylanders wearing them.

"Alright guys." Sprocket began. "What's going on?" She asked as she saw a sudden spike in the Skylanders heartbeats.

The heartbeats on all the Skylanders, which were previously rather even and calm, were now shooting up and down like crazy. Sprocket concluded that they must be fighting against someone.

Moment after moment passed, Sprocket saw helplessly as the skylanders seemed to be having a hard time. She could only decypher so much from mere heartbeats. "I should have installed a camera." Sprocket beat herself down. "I would have been easy too!"

Then, a loud beeping started to sound from the monitor. A large red "Warning" sign flashed across the screen as sparks and smoke started to shoot out of the monitor.

"Oh, no." Sprocket said as she realised what was going on. "No, no, no! I told them not to do that!" Sprocket yelled desperately.

Then, with a loud bang and a burst of smoke, the monitor exploded as a beam of light erupted from the Portal Gate platform, making Sprocket stumble back and trip, landing on her rear.

Sprockett then looked over to the platform where the light had erupted from, the Portal Gates. Slumped on the metallic platform, was a violet figure laying still. Sprocket recognised the fallen figure as Cynder, and tried to call her name. As she got closer to Cynder, she noticed that the Relay Badge on her chest was in one piece, but the rim of the badge was not glowing the bright blue it was supposed to. She also noticed there was a strange wooden hand, connected to thick red string, that was grasping her friend's tail tightly.

"Cynder? Are what happened!?" She asked eagerly, standing up and tumbling toward her friend before kicking the wooden appendage off her friend's tail.

Cynder then began to stir slowly, lifting her head and taking a look around. "Wh… Where am I?" She asked slowly in a drowsy voice.

"You're in the Academy." Sprocket answered, placing her hand on Cynder's shoulder, looking at her fiend with concern. "What happened? Where is everyone else?"

Cynder's eyes then went round, as if she suddenly remembered something. "There not here!?" She asked suddenly, turning her head wildly, as if to look for her fiends. "Oh, no…" She began in a weak voice, suddenly slumping her shoulders as he expression darkened.

"You guys must have triggered more than three badges at once." Sprocket explained, looking down at the floor. "The signal that would have gotten you all back must have gotten saturated. You were lucky to actually have come back here, there was no knowing where you could have ended up."

Sprocket then looked up at Cynder. The dragoness looked like she was holding back tears, she looked away, to the horizon, as if she was looking for her friends. "It was Omen…" She started, her voice brittle. "He overwhelmed us. He attacked Eruptor and Pop Fizz. He caught me." She said, curling up her tail closer to her. "And Spyro… he got caught by Cyrus. We all had to- We all had to leave." She said, lowering her head slowly and letting her wings droop to her sides.

Sprocket looked at Cynder, trying to figure out some way to help. _"Come on Sprocket, think!"_ She thought harshly, bumping her head, looking for ideas. After closing her eyes, furrowing her brow and really focusing, she came up with something.

"I think I can find them." She stated, making Cynder lift her head slightly. "If I can fix the monitor-" She pointed at the ruined, still smoking interface on the side of the Portal Gates. "I should be able to use this new feature on the Relay Badges to track down the rest of the gang!"

"Really!?" Cynde exclaimed, her voice heightened by her previous concern.

"It'll take time." Sprocket said. "But I can get it done." She said, standing up and turning to face the ruined monitor. "The fix is in!"

* * *

Stealth Elf couldn't see a thing. She then felt as a burning pain, shot up her left foot. She groaned and involuntarily flung her eyes open, revealing her surroundings. Stealth Elf was laying down against dark, cold soil which was pressing against her left cheek.

She then tried do get up, and shook her head. After getting a grip on what was going on, she planned her head around to see where she was. Noticing the thick orange and purple foliage and the strangely colored sky above her, she deduced she was in the Falling Forest, not a particularly good place to be.

" _The guys."_ A voice in the back of her head reminded her, making her gasp and suddenly try to get on her feet in order to look for her friends.

Suddenly, Stealth Elf felt as another burst of burning pain erupted form her left foot, making her grunt in pain and trip down to the ground, landing on her chest. Stealth Elf then tried to turn over and have a look at what the matter was. She sat down and looked at her left foot. She tried to get a feel of it through her brown leather footwear, but as she applied pressure to see what was going on, another burst of pain erupted, more intense than the last, which made her give out a sudden hiss of pain and let go of her foot quickly.

"This is bad." Stealth Elf told herself, as she looked around, looking for her friends. "I wonder how everyone else is doing?"

"I hope there better off than us." A familiar voice suddenly sounded from behind Stealth Elf, making her turn around rapidly to see who had spoken.

"Jet-Vac!" Stealth Elf exclaimed as she looked at her feathered friend. "Where is everyone?"

"I have Eruptor and Pop Fizz knocked out behind me." Jet-Vac began. "But I have no idea where the rest of our companions are." He stated in a down tone.

Stealth Elf remembered what Sprocket had said about how the Relay Badges could malfunction if too many of them were triggered too quickly. Remembering how heated things had gotten during their last encounter with the world's most dangerous trash man, she figured that could have been a reasonable explanation.

"What are you doing down there anyway?" Jet-Vac asked, apparently noticing how Stealth Elf was laying down in the dirt.

"I think I kicked Omen, a little too hard, a little too much." She said, absentmindedly trying to rub her hurting foot, but wincing and retracting her hand quickly when yet another dose of pain erupted from her contact.

"I see." Jet-Vac said simply. "Well, we need to get moving, preferably back to the Academy." He stated as he approached Stealth Elf and extended his arm for her to take. "By the looks of our badges-" He said, pointing at his, which made Stealth Elf react and look at hers to notice both items were lacking the blue glow around their edge, signaling what Stealth Elf assumed was some sort of malfunction. "We can't take the easy way back to the Academy." Jet-Vac continued. "We also don't know where our friends are, and if anyone does I would bet that'd be Sprocket."

Stealth Elf looked at Jet-Vac's arm. She was starting to get a little worried about what this situation was turning into, but she swallowed that concern and composed herself befoere taking her friend's hand. "Alright then, let's get going."

* * *

Spyro opened his eyes suddenly. Before he could understand where he was, Spyro was on his feet and breathing hard, extending his wings and getting into combat pose while panning his head all around him trying to see where he was.

Spyro then began to relax slowly, breathing more evenly. He started to get a hand on his surroundings. Spyro was in a large, stone room. It was lit by strange smooth, glowing rocks in the ceiling, which showered the square room in a dim white light. The walls were made of dusty grey brick and there were pillars sticking out of the walls that held the place together. The room also had a wide stairway across from where Spyro was standing.

"How did I get here?" Spyro wandered out loud, not thinking of a clear answer. "Must have been Sprocket's badges." He concluded. At that, he looked down at the badge on his chest. He noticed it looked fine, except for the fact the little rim wasn't glowing blue. Spyro guessed it must have been a side effect of the badges malfunctioning.

Spyro then turned around, he saw what he guessed would have been the entrance to this place. There were massive grey stone gates covered in elegant patterns, depicting what looked like dragons of some kind. The gates were caved in by huge boulders, preventing Spyro from leaving.

"Of course. No way this would have been easy." Spyro said sarcastically.

Afterwards, Spyro turned around and headed to the stairway, not seeing anyway of progressing. As he got closer to the stairway, he noticed it led down a long flight of stairs which opened to what seemed like another room.

"Alright, let's get going I guess." Spyro told himself as he moved to take the first step down.

However, just as Spyro was about to touch the first step, he felt as something heavy and powerful tackled him from behind, knocking him off his balance and sending him sprawling down the stairs. Through his tough scales, Spyro felt as the cold, stone corners on the steps crashed against his body as he fell and fell, making him dizzy to top the whole experience.

Then, Spyro felt himself hit, chest-first, a flat cold surface. As he began to recover slowly from what he felt was a conclusion he began to stand up slowly, pain riddling his body as his eyes tried to focus form his diminishing dizziness.

After recuperating enough of his senses, Spyro lifted his head, looking for what had sent him on such a pleasant ride. As he did, Spyro almost instinctively tensed up and got into battle pose. Standing up slowly in front of him, his indigo scales and red mark covered in bruises from apparently falling down the stairs as well, Cyrus was looking at Spyro, venomous green eyes unblinking and fixated on the Skylander.

"Cyrus." Spyro began, slowly loosening up. "We don't need t-"

Before Spyro could finish his sentence, he saw as Cyrus charged at him suddenly with explosive speed. Before Spyro could react, he felt himself be outmuscled and knocked on his back. Spyro opened his eyes and saw Cyrus looming over him, his eyes were still not blinking, a deranged look in their expression.

"You…" Cyrus hissed. "Why do you have to make this so _complicated!?"_ He demanded, shouting the last word in an pained and angry voice.

Afterwards, Spyro felt like two ice-cold paws surrounded his neck and squeezed, stopping air from reaching Spyro's lungs. But then, it got worse. When Spyro looked to his neck, he noticed as a bloody red glow started to emanate from Cyrus paws and then, he felt the pain. He felt like he was drowning, not choking. He was suddenly overwhelmed with that feeling you get when you're on your last few breaths before you black out when you're underwater. But Spyro didn't black out, he remained awake, still feeling the hideous pain as Cyrus drained the life out of him.

Desperately, Spyro used every fiber in his body to move. He tried to roll his body to his side and use his hind legs to kick Cyrus off him somehow. Thankfully he managed it, his sudden gut kick knocked Cyrus off Spyro's chest and made the indigo dragon stumble to his side. As Cyrus crashed on the stone floor beside Spyro, he hear a loud clicking sound, like a piece of a puzzle being slid into place. But Spyro was too busy gasping for breath more desperately than he had ever done in his life to mind the sound. Spyro had remembered feeling awful after Cyrus had used his freaky magic on him, but nothing like this.

Spyro then looked to his side to see Cyrus back on his feet, but standing still and looking tense, staring down at the floor. The indigo dragon was standing over what Spyro guessed had made the previous clicking sound sound. A pressure plate.

Suddenly, a loud crashing sound came from behind Spyro. He turned around to see the entrance to the room he and Cyrus were in, was now blocked by a featureless wall of grey stone, encasing Spyro and Cyrus inside the room.

"Nice going…" Cyrus spat behind Spyro.

"This is _my_ fault!?" Spyro asked outraged, turning around suddenly and glaring at Cyrus.

But before the dragons could continue arguing, a strange sound filled the room. Spyro turned to where the sound seemed to originate from and found himself staring at the walls of the room. From the grey rock that made the walls, perfectly circular holes were starting to appear on the walls. There were four holes on each wall beside the one the entrance was originally on. The holes looked a couple of meters wide and were too dark for Spyro to see the inside of.

Then, after a few seconds of delay, torrents of foaming white liquid shot out each of the holes, quickly starting to flood the chamber the two purple dragons were in.

"Oh, _nice going!"_ Cyrus shouted as he took flight, trying to avoid the quickly spreading fluid.

"Again, how is this _my_ fault!?" Spyro shouted back, taking flight behind Cyrus and rising as far up as he could.

Both dragons were now flying near the ceiling of the gray chamber. However, the white, foamy fluid beneath them was rising at an alarming rate. After only a couple dosen seconds, Spyro felt his hind legs get covered in the stuff and as he flapped his wings, he felt them crash against the surface of the liquid as well. It felt like water, but certainly didn't look like it. Spyro looked over to Cyrus. The indigo dragon was in a similar position as his own. After a few seconds, both dragons were neck deep in the white liquid. So, Spyro tried to keep himself afloat in the little space left not covered in liquid. As he was about to be covered in the white fluid, Spyro tilted his head and pressed his face against the ceiling and took a deep breath before getting completely submerged.

As Spyro opened his eyes under the white fluid, he noticed he could see quite clearly, for the liquid didn't sting his eyes. So, Spyro looked to where he had last seen Cyrus. The indigo dragon was also submerged and he looked like he was looking for a way out of the room, moving his head desperately all around. Thinking through, Spyro felt like he should have been doing the same thing. However, no matter where he looked, Spyro could not find any sort of exit and it was getting a little hard to breath.

But then, Spyro felt like he was suddenly being pulled down by a great force. He looked down to see that a massive hole, much larger than the ones on the walls, had suddenly opened on the floor of the room, and was now sucking Spyro and Cyrus down toward it. Spyro attempted frantically to swim upwards, away from the massive drain. But it was no use, after a few seconds, Spyro felt himself be swallowed by the drain, and as he felt himself spin and turn in sharp turns and drops all while being unable to breath, Spyro closed his eyes and felt himself fade into darkness.

* * *

" _Spyro…"_ A voice called him through the darkness, Spyro couldn't really hear it very well.

" _Spyro…"_ The voice called again, clearer this time, and a little louder. This time, Spyro noticed there were actually two voices speaking.

"Spyro!" The voices suddenly shouted, perfectly solid and separate.

With that, Spyro's eyes flung open as the purple dragon gasped for breath. He then bent over and coughed harshly, spitting out a small amount of the weird liquid he was drowning in a few moments ago. It was rather tasteless, like water.

As Spyro started to compose himself and get on his feet, he noticed he was completely soaked in the foamy liquid from earlier. He shook wildly to get as much of it off as he could. Then Spyro looked around to see where he was. He noticed he was in a circular chamber made of a smooth, grayish rock. It was several meters wide. A wooden door stood in front of him, leading outside he guessed.

Then, Spyro heard a slow groan come from behind him. He turned around and instinctively tensed up. He saw as Cyrus was standing up slowly, soaked just like Spyro had been.

"Cyrus!" Spyro called, making the other dragon react and turn his head toward Spyro. "Can we take a moment please?"

But it was no use. Cyrus was already charging at Spyro, claws at his sides, ready to swipe at him. As Spyro tried to back up to avoid the attack, he tripped on the wet floor, falling on his rear as Cyrus tackled him, knocking him to the ground fully. Then Spyro felt as Cyrus' paws clasped around his neck again and started to squeeze. He started to panic from the thought of feeling the way he had felt when Cyrus had done this earlier. His heart began to race and he started kicking and squirming desperately. But a few moments passed and not only did Spyro not feel the horrible sensation from before, but he felt Cyrus loosen his grip.

"What is this?" Cyrus asked in a confused tone as he, to Spyro's surprise removed his paws off his neck and looked at them like there was something wrong with them.

Spyro saw this and took his chance. He kicked Cyrus off him using his hind legs once again. As Cyrus fell to the ground Spyro readied his flames and aimed at Cyrus. But when Spyro tried to release his attack, when he opened his mouth, nothing came out, not even a wisp of flames. Instead Spyro coughed roughly and was left confused.

"It was a potion." Spyro heard Cyrus say. "That foamy white stuff, it must have been some sort of potion, that took away our magic." He explained.

"What makes you think that?" Spyro asked confused.

"The fact we can't use our magic?" Cyrus answered in an obvious tone, which made Spyro growl in frustration.

"Well, from what I can tell." Spyro began, making Cyrus give him a suspicious look. "Neither of us wants the other dead, and thanks to that fancy potion, we couldn't kill each other if we wanted to."

"So?" Cyrus asked, looking at Spyro with narrow eyes.

"I propose a truce." Spyro stated simply. "I think neither of us knows what this place even is. So, until we manage we leave, I suggest postponing the roughhousing. Sound good?"

Spyro didn't take his eyes off Cyrus for a second. He remained tensed up as he waited for Cyrus' answer. The indigo dragon simply stayed still, looking at Spyro with an unflinching expresion. A moment passed, and another, neither dragon moving an inch. Then, Spyro saw as Cyrus moved suddenly making Spyro asume battle stance by reflex. However, Cyrus had simply walked to where the door leading out of the room was. As Cyrus opened the wooden door, crossed through and slammed it shut with his tail, Spyro let out a relieved sigh.

"I'll take that as a yes." Spyro stated as he walked over to the door and swung it open, trying to catch up to Cyrus.

As Spyro exited the circular chamber he was in and tried to search his surroundings for Cyrus, he was faced with a jaw-dropping sight. Spyro tilted his head up and wowed at what he was seeing. The purple dragon was standing on a small stone ledge that had a rather wide bridge, connecting to another ledge over a huge chasm. Spyro, stood beneath a massive starlight sky. Or at least, it was beautiful enough to look like one. On the ceiling of the gargantuan cavern he was in, was a shower of glowing lights, blue, white and yellow, all of different sizes and spread across the whole ceiling, creating the illusion of a beautiful night sky.

Spyro felt like he wanted to just stretched out his wings and fly. Fly under this beautiful scene, forgetting everything else. Fly free, like the old days. But as he tilted his head down, he saw Cyrus, back turned against him and looking up as well. As Spyro layed eyes on him, he noticed something unusual about his old enemy. Cyrus' usually poisoned eyes, that were regularly filled with misery and hate, were lit up with something Spyro could have swore he'd never though he would see in those eyes. Wonder. The same wonder Spyro had felt just a few seconds ago as he too gazed into the beautiful lights.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" Spyro asked, trying to sound as non threatening as he could.

But after hearing Spyro speak, Cyrus tensed up, the light in his eyes was suddenly snuffed out, cruelly and without a warning. Afterwards Cyrus began to walk away, toward the bridge and way from Spyro.

"Wait!" Spyro exclaimed suddenly, taking a step forward. However Cyrus didn't stop moving, he was almost halfway through the bridge already. "Cyrus, stop! We need to talk!"

"Talk about what!?" Cyrus turned around suddenly, actually scaring Spyro. "What could you possibly have to say to me!?"

Spyro was suddenly taken back. He opened his mouth, attempted to say something, but no sound came out. He just looked at Cyrus, who started at him with a strange look. His green eyes looked angry, but eager as well, as if expecting Spyro to say something.

"You really have nothing to say?" Cyrus asked derisively. "You were are always one for quick retorts I'm told. What happened, buddy!?" Afterwards, Cyrus turned around and started walking away again.

Spyro looked down at his paws and furrowed his brow as he closed his eyes and thought of something to say. "Do you remember what you told me." Spyro began, making Cyrus stop abruptly. "The day we first met?"

"I said a lot of things that day." Cyrus answered, still looking forward and away from Spyro. "You'll have to be more specific."

"I remember every word you told me that day." Spyro started, looking at the ground. "Because, that was the day I met another purple dragon." Spyro continued, sadness making his voice lower. "I remember feeling so happy when I first saw you, man."

"You… were happy to see me?" Cyrus asked slowly, still not facing Spyro.

"I had been looking for my ancestors, for anything regarding my dragon kind, for such a long time." Spyro picked up, giving out a sad chuckle. "I couldn't help but be happy when I saw an actual purple dragon in front of me."

Then, Spyro lifted his head, and looked at Cyrus. "You told me: _We are all puppets here friend_." Spyro stated, making Cyrus flinch. " _My stage is just a little bigger_." Spyro repeated what Cyrus had sasd that day, word for word. Spyro then ran what those words in his mind, comparing them against all the other things Spyro had noticed since he had met Cyrus. How Omen hurt him, how little the strange villian though of Cyrus. He only came up with one answer. "You're not some villian. Its Omen who made you do all this."

"So what if he did?" Cyrus asked, finally turning around. "What would that even mean?" He demanded, looking at Spyro in the eyes.

"It means…" Spyro paused, thinking through what he was about to say. "It means, you aren't a bad person, are you? You just don't want that monster to hurt you."

Spyro noticed Cyrus's paw and left eye twitch, almost like ha was about to scratch the red mark over his eye as he usually did. "We could help you." Spyro offered, taking a step toward Cyrus. "You don't have to hurt anyone anymore, and he won't be able to hurt yo-"

"Shut up." Cyrus hissed and suddenly, his green eyes, were lit up with their familiar toxic fervor, making Spyro flinch and willingly take a step back. "You don't get it, do you?" Cyrus asked in a cutting voice. "This-" Cyrus pointed at the red "A" Over his left eye. "Is a torture brand. Omen can trigger it anytime, anywhere to hurt me, it's not something you could _protect_ me from." He spat the word "protect" like it was some sort of joke.

"Then we could remove it!" Spyro insisted, not able to take a step forward under those green eyes. "Cyrus we can hel-"

" _Shut up!"_ Cyrus bellowed. "Stop doing that! Stop acting like you care about me!"

Spyro was taken back. He had no idea of what to do. He looked at Cyrus, opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

"Just, leave me alone." Cyrus said, turning around again and walking down the stone bridge, leaving Spyro behind him.

Spyro felt awful. He felt like he had failed at something important. Spyro had no idea what position Cyrus was in. However, Spyro wasn't about to give up on the indigo dragon. Something was pushing for him to try his hardest not to leave Cyrus in the darkness he was in. So, after a long breath, Spyro began to run after Cyrus, determined to help in any way he could.

* * *

Cyrus' ears were ringing. He was having an outright painful time focusing. _"Who does he think he is?"_ Cyrus asked himself. He could barely believe that idiot of a purple dragon had even suggested "helping" him.

Cyrus was walking through a long, gray passageway. Lifted by tall black marble pedestals, were rows of statues of dragons on both sides of the hallway. They seemed to be carved out of what looked like giant gemstones and they were all looking down on Cyrus. The expressions carved on their faces were soft, kind, but unwavering with drive and power.

"They're purple dragons." Cyrus heard a painfully familiar voice. "This must be some sort of tomb or something." Spyro said in a wondered voice as his steps started sounding closer and closer to Cyrus until they sounded like that were right behind him.

"I told you to leave me alone." Cyrus stated plainly, forging ahead and not looking back at the Skylander behind him.

"I _am_ leaving you alone." Spyro stated in an annoyingly merry voice as he kept following Cyrus through the hallway. "We both just happen to be going to the same place."

Cyrus was hardly in the mood for this. Why Spyro was suddenly acting all buddy-buddy was beyond him. But he was right about what he had said before. Drained of his magic and his flames, he was hardly in any shape to fight, but he sure wasn't planning on making friends.

"What do you think this place is?" Spyro asked out loud, almost as if he thought Cyrus would answer. "Do you think it's one of those creepy tombs like in the movies?" Spyro insisted, making Cyrus give out a low growl. "With the big rolling stone ball and everything?" Spyro kept going.

"I don't care." Cyrus hissed, surprised by how deep under his skin Spyro was getting.

"Why?" Spyro asked suddenly. Now that was a strange question. Cyrus suddenly stopped walking and listened to what Spyro continued to say. "Why doesn't this matter to you? These are my-" Spyro cut himself off, as if he was reconsidering his words. "These are _our_ ancestors, our families… doesn't that mean anything to you?"

Cyrus ran what Spyro had just said through his mind. He then looked back through his memories. A small chuckle escaped his throat. "Families…" He said slowly. "I remember you being really jumpy when you first met me. What was that about?"

Spyro took a little bit to answer, but eventually spoke in a quiet voice. "You- You were the first purple dragon I had ever met. I thought… I thought you could help me find my family."

" _Find his family?"_ Cyrus though to himself. _"Is this guy blind? Stupid? Both?"_ The indigo dragon couldn't believe that he could see something so clearly while Spyro was blind to it, despite it being so close to the Skylander.

"Would you like to know something?" Cyrus offered, making Spyro listen in eagerly. "Omen told me about how the purple dragons were all turned into monsters and died gruesome deaths in the Great War a long time ago." Cyrus stated and taking Spyro's silence as a cue, he kept talking. "I never got to care about my ancestry because I was shown what had become of it." Cyrus then scoffed, as a very particular memory flashed into his mind. "Omen actually showed me something rather interesting. When I was, I believe six years old, I asked him about if there were any other dragons like me for the first time. As an answer, he just opened a portal to somewhere and dropped a purple dragon skull in front of me. Dust, spiderwebs and rotting leftover flesh and all. He then just said: _There used to be._ "

Cyrus then turned around to look at Spyro. The look on his face was pathetic. He had his mouth slightly open, his scales had turned slightly pale and had his pupils dilated, as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "I can't mourn what I've never known." Cyrus began. "And you-" He pointed at Spyro with his paw. "Can't look for what you already have."

Spyro looked like he was taken back by what Cyrus had just said. He didn't seem to understand Cyrus words, which made Cyrus feel like smirking for some reason. Spyro's ignorance was rather amusing.

"Now." Cyrus picked up, turning around again. "Shut up, chit chat is over." At that, Cyrus kept walking through the long hallway.

The statues of purple dragons, carved out of precious stones kept staring down on Cyrus as he passed them by. He noticed there were small bronze plates on the black pedestals beneath the statues, but they were covered in dust and worn by time, making them ilegible. After awhile, Cyrus finally got near to the end of the hallway, where a large pair of metal gates blocked the entry to the next room.

Cyrus was about to open the gates, standing on his hind legs and pressing his paws against them when he heard something from behind him.

* * *

"Cyrus." Spyro called, looking at the indigo dragon's back. He was about to open the gates to the next room, but had stopped when Spyro called. Spyro then gave a deep breath and spoke, puffing out his chest. "I'll help you. I don't care how hard it is, I'll find a way to help you." He stated, not stuttering once, meaning each word completely.

Cyrus had not turned around to look at Spyro after he spoke, in fact, he hadn't moved at all or said a single word for a long couple of seconds. Then, Cyrus gave a long sigh, before pushing the metallic gates open and walking through, leaving Spyro behind.

"Man, he's got one cold shoulder." Spyro joked mirthlessly to himself as he trotted after Cyrus, a little eager to see what was in the next room.

When Spyro crossed into the next chamber he saw Cyrus standing still in front of him as a large, circular room opened up before them. The walls were very different to the ones in the previous room. They were made of rough, greenish rock and were not decorated at all. The floor of the room was made of iron bars, as if it were the ceiling of a giant cage. Beneath the bars was too dark for Spyro to see clearly. Then, Spyro looked ahead and saw the exit to the next room. A couple of smooth metal gates, very much like the ones behind Spyro stood across the room.

"Well, I guess we forge ahead?" Spyro suggested as he took a couple of steps forward.

Suddenly however, Spyro heard a loud crashing sound come from behind him and almost jumped out of his scales. Spyro then turned around quickly to look at the metal gates behind him. To the Skylander's dread, they were shut close, but what made Spyro really worry was the strange glowing insignia that stood across the thin line that divided both gates. It depicted two shot swords crossed over a grey knight's shield, the whole thing glowing a ghostly blue.

"It's a Battle Gate." Spyro heard Cyrus say. "It won't let us leave until we beat something in this room."

"Beat what?" Spyro asked as he turned around and looked ahead. He saw Cyrus staring at the far gates on the other side of the room, which were also blocked with the strange insignia.

Then, as if to answer Spyro's question, a strange light began to flicker and glow in the middle of the room, growing larger and more intense, eventually making Spyro need to cover his eyes with his wing.

After the light suddenly diminished. Spyro put his wing behind his back and looked at where the light had been coming from.

On the middle of the room, now stood a huge mass of smooth, black metallic parts. Then, a roaring flame pillar erupted from the strange metallic mess, staining a couple of meters tall. At that, the smooth pieces began swirling and floating in the air, slowly assembling into a massive humanoid shape. The shape was stubby in it's build. The smooth dark metal smoldered around the females it encased. The metallic shape also had a head. It was rather round and had two beady circles that simulated eyes and a set of bars beneath them. The arrangement of the orifices and the flames behind them, made them all look like a face.

"That's a Gear Golem." Cyrus stated, taking a step back from the metallic creature. "I still can't use my magic or my flames. I doubt we can beat this thing as we are."

Spyro understood this was a serious situation, but something Cyrus had said made him react. "Who's _we?"_ Spyro asked jokingly as he raised an eyebrow.

"Seriously?" Cyrus looked at Spyro with an annoyed glare.

Suddenly, the Gear Golem gave out a loud metallic roar before putting both of its thick and stubbly metal arms in front of it. From the Gear Golem's fingertips, a huge stream of fire erupted, aimed at Spyro and Cyrus.

Cyrus dodged out of the way, but Spyro just put his wings in front of him and braced for impact. The fire from the Gear Golem felt intense as it crashed against the membranes of Spyro's wings, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle.

As Spyro lowed his wings to see in front of him, he saw the Gear Golem stomping slowly toward him, creating loud bangs with each step. The metallic creature must be very heavy. Then Spyro saw as the creature placed it's arms in front of it again, and yet another stream of fire erupted from it's finger tips.

This time Spyro flew out of the way, rising off the ground over the enemy's flames. As Spyro soared above the Gear Golem, he instinctively tried to breath a fireball at it's shiny head. But as he opened his mouth to attack, nothing came out. Apparently the potion was still in effect.

"There must be some way of beating this thing without our powers." Spyro heard Cyrus say suddenly.

Spyro looked to his right and saw Cyrus flying above the Gear Golem as well, a little far away from Spyro himself.

"Any ideas?" Spyro asked. "Because I've got nothing."

Then Spyro looked down at the Gear Golem. He saw as the metallic creature stood in place and raised its arms over its head and made fists with its hands. Afterwards A volley of fireballs fired out of the Gear Golem's fists raining across the whole room. Some projectile were getting a little close for Spyro's comfort. He wasn't worried about the projectiles hitting him, they just bounced off his scales as he placed his wings in front of him. He was worried about Cyrus. He didn't know if Cyrus' scales were impenetrable like his, so, out of concern Spyro looked over to Cyrus.

The indigo dragon was flying through the air, turning and diving like an acrobat, a perfectly calm expression on his face as the flaming projectiles crossed inches away from his body. Apparently, Spyro worried over nothing, so, giving a short sigh, he focused on the Gear Golem once again. Spyro noticed that it was lowering its arms and was holding still. Spyro watched as the creature remained still for a moment, then another. He also noticed something strange about the Golem's flames. They looked much less intense than before.

" _Did it run out of battery or something?"_ Spyro wondered.

Then, the Gear Golem took a step forward, stomping loudly, and then took another creating a similar sound. Spyro noticed something about the flames beneath the Gear Golem's metal shell. As the metallic creature took a step forward, the dwindling flames roared with new strength. As the Gear Golem stomped closer to Spyro, the flames rekindled to their previous intensity, noticing all this, an idea clicked into place in Spyro's mind.

"Cyrus!" Spyro called the indigo dragon. "I think I know how to beat this thing!"

"You do?" Cyrus asked, an unnecessarily evident edge of disbelief in his voice.

"We have to make it attack us!" Spyro stated. "I think if we make it attack us enough times without it moving, it'll run out of power!" He explained as he looked down at the Gear Golem, who was now raising its arms again, ready to fire its volley of flames once more.

Cyrus had remained silent beside Spyro, but after a while he spoke. "I don't really see any other way. Fine, we'll do your plan. I hope you know what you're doing."

Spyro gave a wide cocky smile. "Always!" He said before diving down at the Gear Golem, followed by Cyrus.

As the Gear Golem began releasing its shower of flaming projectiles on the two purple dragons, they soared across the room, turning and rolling out of the way of the falling fireballs. Spyro was a little less graceful and got scraped by several fireballs, but his scaled kept him from being hurt. Cyrus on the other hand flew fluidly through the falling projectiles, swaying his wings, tail and body, shifting his weight around and avoiding all the incoming attacks, narrowly but gracefully.

Spyro remembered Cyrus being a good flyer from that time he was chasing him to the island where they had first fought, but he had kind of forgotten about it and was admittedly surprised by the display.

After a while, the firebolts stopped raining down and the purple dragons were able to touch down on the floor and catch a breath as the Gear Golem stayed stationary.

"We'll have to get close." Spyro said as he was getting ready.

"How close?" Cyrus asked, keeping his eyes in the Gear Golem.

"Uncomfortably close." Spyro stated. "Are you ready?" He asked Cyrus with a grin.

Cyrus didn't answer, rather giving Spyro a small scoff. Spyro grinned a little wider. "Alright then, let's go!" He said before charging at the Gear Golem, followed by Cyrus.

As both dragons got close to the Gear Golem, they split up and started to run circles around the metallic creature. The Gear Golem then lifted its arms and tried to follow the speeding dragons by spinning its torso as it stayed stationary. Then, from its fingertips, the stream of flames erupted and as the Gear Golem spun, it chased Spyro and Cyrus. The two dragons kept running at top speed around the Gear Golem as its flaming attack followed close behind them. They kept running and the Golem kept spinning. After what felt like minutes ot the now panting dragon, Spyro could notice that the flames beneath the Gear Golem's stubby black plating were almost completely exhausted.

"We're almost there!" Spyro shouted. "It's almost done!"

"I can see that!" Cyrus shouted as he ran beside Spyro, also visibly tiring out.

Then, with a sound like an engine giving out, the heat of the flames behind Spyro went out. He stopped in his tracks and looked at the Gear Golem. The metallic creature was no longer firing it's blazing attack at Spyro or Cyrus and it looked like a strong wind could knock it's hollow looking frame away. Smoke emerged from the joints and holes in the metal pieces that made up its shape and the flames that once roared bright within it seemed to have gone out.

"Would you like to do the honors?" Spyro asked Cyrus between exhausted breaths.

"I mean…" Cyrus began before exhaling harshly and picking up again. "I would like to, but…" He paused again. "It was your idea, you should do it."

Spyro gave him a strange look. "You're too tired to do it are you?"

"What? Nooo." Cyrus said in an evidently sarcastic voice. "I _want_ you to do it, you deserve it." He said before exhaling harshly once again.

Spyro looked away from Cyrus. _"Still the sarcastic jerk I know and love aren't cha?"_ he thought to himself before looking at the Gear Golem. Tensing up and lowering his head, Spyro got ready to ram the metallic husk and get this whole thing over with.

Spyro then charged at the Gear Golem's frame and jumped, dipping his head and aiming for the creature's chest. But then, Spyro felt a large hand suddenly grab his neck, constructing him in an iron grip.

"Why... does everyone... want to... choke me!?" Spyro demanded as he looked at the Gear Golem's hand surrounding his neck and the creature's arm hold him in mid air.

Spyro then felt as the Gear Golem's hand slowly started closing around his neck. Breathing was getting harder and harder and he was definitely feeling the crushing sensation of the Golem's hand, even through his scales.

But then, Spyro saw something that really took his breath away. He saw as Cyrus, the sarcastic, apathetic jerk he had practically hated since he had met him, jump through the air and headbutt the Gear Golem's round head right off the creature's body with a loud bang and a small shockwave. After that, the creature's head bounced across the room a couple of times and after a few seconds, the rest of the Gear Golem's body fell apart to the ground, releasing Spyro form his choke hold.

As Spyro fell to the floor unable to stand up and gasping to catch his breath, he looked over to Cyrus. The indigo dragon was looking away from Spyro but after a few seconds, he stretched his paw to Spyro.

"Get up." Cyrus commanded, still looking away. "We need to leave."

Spyro could feel himself smile. He didn't really know why but as he took Cyrus paw and got on his feet he felt like he was with someone he could trust. "Thanks, man." He said honestly.

"Don't get any ideas." Cyrus answered quickly, taking a step away from Spyro. "I still need you alive."

"Yeah, of course." Spyro said in an unconvincing voice."So, you good?" He asked.

"I'm fine." Cyrus actually answered, surprising Spyro.

" _Awww, he's warming up to me."_ Spyro said to himself as he noticed that this was the first time Cyrus had given him an non-sarcastic, non-edgy answer to a question. He showed this by smiling goofily.

"Stop smiling like that." Cyrus said, despite still not facing at Spyro.

"How do you know I'm smiling?" Spyro asked with a sing song voice.

"I can feel your smile's stupid aura in the air." Cyrus spat.

"Anyway." Spyro picked up. "Looks like we can leave now." He said, looking at how the glowing insignias had dispersed from the metal gates that led to the next room.

"Then let's get moving." Cyrus said simply as he began to walk with irregular speed at the gates.

"You know only future friends fight through cool tombs together right?" Spyro shouted at Cyrus due to the growing distance between the two of them.

Spyro heard Cyrus give out a low annoyed growl as he walked away. Spyro then trotted after him hurriedly, not wanting to be left behind by Cyrus, however, despite Cyrus' angry order, Spyro hadn't been able to stop smiling.

* * *

Cyrus opened the metallic gates that led to the next room. He was faced with what seemed to be some sort of library, with massive white marble bookcases, filled with old dusty scrolls stretched into the room's tall ceiling. Wooden staircases stretched along with them, allowing anyone to reach even the very top scrolls.

" _Is there no end to this place?"_ Cyrus asked himself as he gave out a long exasperated sigh.

"Woah! That's a lot of scrolls!" Spyro's voice came suddenly from behind Cyrus, making his give out another longer sigh and lower his head.

"Do you ever shut up?" Cyrus asked in an annoyed voice, glancing to his side as he watched Spyro walk and look around the room, his eyes wide with wonder.

"Only when I'm bored." Spyro stated as his eyes darted across several different scrolls. "And no, that doesn't happen very often and it's not about to happen now." He added quickly as his eyes suddenly focused on a particular scroll.

Spyro then walked over to one of the massive book cases on Cyrus's left. As Spyro climbed the wooden staircase resting on the massive marble construct he stretched his paw to pull his target scroll out.

The dusty, old thing looked like it was a light breeze from being blown into dust. The papyrus was white and covered in cobwebs. Why Spyro picked that one out of all the thousand others was beyond Cyrus' mind to care enough to try to understand.

"Don't waste time." Cyrus said as he resumed crossing through the colossal bookcases. "We have to get out of here and the quicker the better."

"Hey, dude?" Spyro called suddenly. "I think you'll want to see this one."

Cyrus frowned at the Skylander's instance to socialize with him. "Why would I ever-

"It has stuff about your flames." Spyro cut him off.

Cyrus stopped walking, in fact, he stopped breathing for a second. "What was that?" He asked out loud.

"Come look." Spyro insisted.

Cyrus couldn't help himself, he started to turn around and walk over to where Spyro now was, on the floor beside the bookcase holding the scroll open for Cyrus to peek his head and read.

Cyrus had always been in pain, ever since he could remember. It was either from Omen torturing him or form his own stupid flames killing him from the inside. Omen sometimes told Cyrus those flames were a useful tool that no one else had at their disposition, if only he'd get the backbone to use them right. Cyrus sure didn't think so, after all, it's hard to see something as useful if it burns the inside of your throat and lungs every time you use it.

"What does it say?" Cyrus asked eagerly, not being able to read the runes upside down.

"It says you're something called an Infernus." Spyro stated, looking down at the scroll. "Actually, it also says I'm something called an…" Spyro leaned into the scroll and squinted his eyes. "Actually, can you read that? I'm not sure its a real word." He said, handing the scroll to Cyrus so he could read it himself.

Cyrus looked at the runes on the scroll. He could understand most of them, but there were a few that were blurred away by time.

"It's this one." Spyro poked the word he wanted to understand on the papyrus as he walked over to Cyrus' side.

As Cyrus focused on that word, he raised an eyebrow. He had never heard that word before. "It says… Adiaperst?" He said the word awkwardly.

"What do you think that means?" Spyro asked curiously, leaning into the scroll and making it difficult for Cyrus to read.

"It means-" Cyrus said, nudging Spyro out of the way. "That _you are_ an Adiaperst." He stated. Afterwards, Cyrus began to read the rest of the scroll out loud.

"The purple dragons are among the most powerful breeds of dragons in the Skylands." Cyrus began. "They all hold many great powers and abilities that made them extremely proficient protectors of the peace. However, there were also some very special and rare traits even among these heroes." Cyrus paused. "Among a very select few purple dragons, an exceptionally rare pair of gifts could blossom. These gifts were legendary among the purple dragons and the carriers of such gifts usually ascended into legend."

"Whoa…" Spyro began. "Does that mea-"

"Shhh!" Cyrus shushed Spyro loudly, making him give him an offended look before shutting up.

At that, Cyrus resumed reading. "The carriers of these gifts were called: Adiapersts, those whom no evil could harm."

"That me." Spyro whispered excitedly.

"The second." Cyrus resumed. "Were the Inferni, those whom no evil could stand against."

"I read that the Adiapersts had really tough scales." Spyro stated. "And that the Inferni had really powerful flames." Spyro said as he loomed over the scroll. "The scroll said they always had a little trouble controlling them without help. Actually, down here-" Spyro pointed to the lower paragraphs of the scroll and Cyrus' eyes followed. "There's a section that says: _Remarkable Inferni_ , and there's this dude, called…" Spyro paused and squinted his eyes. "Razren? That's a weird name. Anyway, the rest of the scroll is difficult to read, but it said something about him… leaving. I can't read where or why, but… it sounds like he was a really sad dude. I think he hurt a lot of people by accident since he couldn't control his flames at all."

Cyrus was a little uneasy about reading any more. He supposed he found comfort in knowing he wasn't the only one who suffered like he did, but knowing now that there were people like him, who's lives had been ruined by their so-called "gift", wasn't a really positive message.

"But, there's this other dragon." Spyro started up. "It's a dragon _ess_ actually, she was called Silver, and she was also an Inferni. But, she was a hero… she was like, a very big deal actually. It says she defeated-" Spyro paused and looked deeper into the scroll. "I can't read that, but, look man!" Spyro exclaimed suddenly. "Even though she had the same flames as you, she pulled through! She became a hero! Even among purple dragons!"

Cyrus looked at the scroll with an surprised look. He never though his cursed fire could be used for good. Omen had always told him that his flames were a curse, something he should be ashamed of, but now, looking at the scroll, hearing about someone who was so great, who was, like _him,_ it made him feel a little warm inside.

"Wow, I didn't know you had teeth." Spyro said with a mischievous grin.

Cyrus had unknowingly started smiling and Spyro had seen the whole thing. So, Cyrus hurriedly forced himself to stop and rolled up the scroll before putting it back on the bookcase.

"We should get going." Cyrus stated as he began to walk away.

"Aww come on, man!" Spyro complained. "Just one more scroll?" He said in a whiny voice.

"Which scroll?" Cyrus growled. He didn't want to admit it, but was in fact, a little interested in reading more.

"How about…" Cyrus heard as Spyro flapped his wings to reach a certain scroll somewhere on the taller parts of the bookcases. "Eternal Memories? That sounds interesting."

"Eternal what?" Cyrus asked as he turned around to look at where Spyro was. The purple dragon was quickly descending from the taller reaches of a bookcase to Cyrus' right. Spyro had another scroll in his paws and as he landed in front of Cyrus he opened it up. Before reading out loud.

"Dragons, of all kinds." Spyro began. "Are renowned for having exceptional memories." Spyro gave the scroll a confused look. "Well that's odd." Spyro stated as he looked at Cyrus. "I never really thought of my memory as anything exceptional."

"Just keep reading." Cyrus insisted.

"Alright, alright." Spyro said as he looked down at the scroll once again. "It is said, that with deep meditation, a dragon can recall very deeply hidden memories. According to some legends, purple dragons in particular, have the ability to recall memories from even their past lives."

"Well, that sounds quite unrealistic." Cyrus interjected.

"Yeah, I mean it did say it was according to legends, so." Spyro shrugged before reading once again. "However, there is also a different type of memory that a dragon can recall, albeit, through very specific means." Spyro stated, making Cyrus' interest rise steadily. "These memories are from a time, when a dragon was inside of their egg's shell. There called _Ovarian memories_."

"What are they?" Cyrus asked eagerly.

"Ovarian memories are." Spyro started up. "Memories a dragon can only access after experiencing a moment of great emotional significance." Spyro paused a few seconds at that sentence, but kept going. "After this experience, when a dragon sleeps, a lucid dream will come to them, in which, they will experience some of their very earliest memories, memories of a time when they were curled up inside of their egg, being... cared for by their parents."

Something in the back of Cyrus's mind rang, forcing him to recall some very specific things and react. "I think I had one of those." Cyrus stated while he looked at the scroll with wide eyes.

"Yeah, I think I had one too." Spyro stated also looking at the scroll, a if trying to decipher more. "I had one the day, you and I-"

"Met." Cyrus finished the sentence. "Yeah, I had one that day too."

"What was yours like?" Spyro asked intrusively.

"I'm not answering that." Cyrus stated flatly.

"Why not?" Spyro interrogated. "Would you tell me if I told you what mine was like?"

"No." Cyrus said with a very stern tone.

"Can you at least tell me if you've had any other memories like it?" Spyro asked, rolling up the scroll and putting it on the bookcase beside him.

Cyrus gave Spyro an irritated glare, but the purple dragon's curiosity was not diminished. So, with a short sigh, Cyrus gave in. "One other."

"When did you get it?" Spyro asked eagerly.

"Oh no." Cyrus interjected. "If I'm gonna tell you, you have to tell me if _you've_ had any more _and_ why you got it."

Spyro's eyes suddenly lit up. Then, he suddenly looked to away from Cyrus. As he remained silent for a few seconds, Cyrus could notice there was a small, embarrassed blush on Spyro's cheeks.

" _Oh, this will be good."_ Cyrus thought to himself as a miniscule grin appeared on his face.

Then, Spyro spoke. "I… I have one more." He admitted, the blush on his face growing steadily. "I got it after I… after I…"

"Yeeeees?" Cyrus pushed, the grin on his face growing alongside Spyro's blush.

"After I shared a bed with Cynder!" Spyro shouted suddenly before covering his face with his paws.

Cyrus was taken back by that sudden exclamation. Mustering all of his willpower, Cyrus stopped himself from laughing out loud, but instead snicker and chuckle trough his teeth. "I had no idea you were a ladies man." Cyrus said, holding back tears of laughter.

"Har, har har." Spyro spat, the blush on his face effervescent and humiliating. "Now it's your turn, funny man."

Cyrus collected himself. It took awhile to make his snickering stop, but he managed. "I also only have one more." Cyrus stated. "I got it when I was eight years old, a long while before I met you. It got it after the first time I felt like I was going to die." Cyrus said, his face darkening. "That day, I thought to myself, this is it, I'm going to die today. I suppose that counted as _a moment of great emotional significance._ "

Cyrus noticed that Spyro was looking at him, a sad look on his face. "You were going to die… when you were a kid?" He spoke softly, in warm voice.

"A Fire Viper." Cyrus explained. "I was wandering around an isle and it came after me. One of my wings was broken at the time, so… I put two and two together." Cyrus told his little tale, leaving out a couple of details about what happened to the Fire Viper. He didn't think they were important to the conversation.

"That's enough now." Cyrus started, turning around and walking toward the metalic doors at the end of the room. "We need to leave."

"Cyrus." Spyro called from behind Cyrus, making him stop.

Cyrus waited, but no words came afterward, so, he walked over to the metal doors and pressed his paws against them, opening the way to the next room.

* * *

Spyro watched as Cyrus opened the gates to the next room. He had stayed in his place since. _"Why didn't you say anything?"_ Spyro beat himself down. He guessed he just didn't know what to say, he had no idea Cyrus had had it so rough. Spyro then hurried over the Cyrus, who he could see standing across the opened gates on the next room.

As Spyro caught up with Cyrus, he entered a large room.

It was really spacious and was round in shape. The walls were made of a familiar smooth, grey stone. It was decorated with two huge golden statues that depicted purple dragons. The two statues were facing Spyro and had their wings stretched out and their heads were facing down looking down at a strange, yet elegant-looking cabinet, made of dark carved wood and was decorated with golden ornaments.

Spyro then slowly walked over to the cabinet, alost by instinct, almost as if it was calling to him.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Cyrus asked from behind Spyro.

"I… I feel like there's something important in that cabinet." Spyro explained, walking even closer to the wooden furniture. "Something I need to see."

"Do you even know what that is?" Cyrus asked in an exasperated voice. "It could be a trap! You know, like in those tombs you were talk about."

But Spyro didn't stop. He was already standing right in front of the cabinet, stretching his paw to open it's large drawer, pulling it open by tugging at the large golden handle. Inside of the drawer, stood a single scroll, held up by a small wooden stand. Unlike the ones in the previous room, this scroll looked like it was in mint condition, it's papyrus was clear and not worn at all. A purple ribbon was neatly tied around the scroll, and a small note clinged to it.

Spyro moved to grab the scroll, stretching his paw out. He held the little note the ribbon. It was folded neatly, so Spyro had to open it with his thumb. As he read the words on the paper, his eyes went round and his heart stopped for a second.

"What is it?" Cyrus asked, getting closer to Spyro.

"It's a family tree." Spyro whispered. "It's all I've ever looked for. Itcan tell me who my parents are, Cyrus." He said in an astonished voice, still not really believing what he was looking at.

For the longest time Spyro had looked for his true family. He had waited so long, searched so hard, that now that he had the answer neatly rolled up in front of him, he wasn't sure of what to do.

"Well…" Cyrus began. "You've waited so long. Go on then."

After a little nod and swallowing hard, Spyro reached forward and grasped the scroll in his paw. He pulled it out of the cabinet and untied the purple ribbon around it. It slid off easily and Spyro let it drop to the ground. Spyro then took a deep breath before opening the scroll.

Spyro noticed that Cyrus was peeking his head over Spyro's shoulder, as if he too wanted to see the scroll. _"Maybe he also wants to see his family."_ Spyro guessed in silence.

Without further delay, Spyro turned his eyes and focused on the scroll in his paws. Painted on the parchment, was a large tree, it's branches spreading widely away from the dark brown tree trunk and decorated with purple leaves. Spyro then noticed the many faces of the purple dragons on the tree. There were quite a few faces drawn on the scroll, with their names written down in golden letters beneath them. Spyro noticed that when two dragons got married or had children, a thin orange string connected them, and they were in turn, connected to their children by a thin green string.

Spyro swept his eyes through the many faces on the tree. He kept scrolling through, watching as more and more dragons got tangled in thin colorful stings. A while passed and Spyro was almost at the end of the parchment and still hadn't found any names he'd recognise, much less his own. He was starting to loose his spirits. But then, Spyro noticed something, or more accurately, someone whose name made him react.

"Silver." Spyro said the name out loud as he focused on the picture of the dragoness painted above her name.

"Who?" Cyrus asked confused.

"That dragoness we read about in the old library." Spyro answered recalling her as a _Remarkable Infernus._

As Spyro focused on her picture, Spyro noticed that she looked rather pretty. Her scales were a bright purple, a little brighter than his own shade. She had rather small horns compared to the rest of the dragons. Her face was slim and she was depicted with a warm smile that made Spyro unable to hold himself back from smiling back, even if she was a painting. However, what really caught Spyro's attention, were her eyes. One of them was a bright cherry red and the other was a clear emerald green. She was heterochromic.

Spyro then noticed that a thin orange string connected her to another dragon. Silver's partner, was apparently named Darlan. He was a really rugged looking dragon, he had chiseled chin and golden eyes. His scales were a couple of shades darker shade of purple than Spyro's, but his horns were actually rather similar to his own. He also had a thick scar running through the left of his mouth, crossing both his lips. For a second, Spyro was a little intimidated by him. However, Spyro then noticed that he too, was depicted smiling, a toothy, actually kind of goofy smile, almost like one someone would do for a funny yearbook picture.

"Well, I guess, you're not here." Cyrus said in down tone. "Neither of us is." He added, a slightly disappointed look on his face as he began to walk away.

Spyro then felt as disappointment clawed at his soul. Had history really not taken the time to write him down in this stupid scroll? Spyro was about to put the scroll back in the drawer and accept his defeat, when, he noticed something on the last inches of the scroll he hadn't looked at.

Spyro noticed that Silver and Darlan had each a thin green string leading down to the last inches of the parchment. So, using one last push of hope, Spyro followed the strings through the parchment to where they joined.

Then, Spyro's heart stopped. His hands went limp and he dropped the scroll, making it land on the ground before him. "That's… not possible." Spyro whispered. He could hear his blood roar in his ears and feel as his heartbeat got faster and faster.

"What's wrong?" Cyrus asked from behind Spyro as he walked over to him once again. "Why did you drop the scroll?" He asked, picking it up himself before taking a look himself. "Did you find your fam-"

Cyrus looked at the scroll with a shocked expresion, holding it tightly in his paws. "Is this some sort of joke?" He asked in a shaky voice. Spyro noticed Cyrus' breathing was getting labored and his left eye started twitching. "Is this supposed to be funny?"

"Cyrus." Spyro called. "That scroll isn't some prank store prop." Spyro said, his heart growing heavy with the realisation of what he had seen painted on that scroll meant.

"No." Cyrus said flatly, letting the scroll feebly slide off his paws. "No, no, no." Cyrus began to mumble, as he took his paw to the red mark over his left eye and started scratching.

"Cyrus." Spyro called once again, his voice heavy as he spoke slowly. "You are… my-"

" _No_!" Cyrus howled, covering his face with his free paw. "Shut up!"

"You are my brother…" Spyro said in a weak voice, almost a whisper. As the words came out, Spyro felt like time stopped.

Spyro's eyes then dropped to the scroll on the ground. On the very bottom of the scroll, near the base of the depicted tree, was the image of two little dragon eggs in a small nest. They were both a clear purple hue and had several orange spots on them. One was a little darker and a little larger than the other. Beneath the image, written in golden text, were the words that had just turned Spyro's world upside down. " _Spyro and Cyrus."_

Spyro lifted his head and looked over to indigo dragon was shaking and mumbling things Spyro couldn't understand. He still had his face covered in his paws, and was hanging his head low.

"Cyrus." Spyro called, speaking in a soft voice. "I… I don't know what to say."

"You… and I." Cyrus began, slowly stopping his shaking. "Are brothers. You and I… shared a home… shared a family." He stated, his voice growing stadier. "And yet. I'm the only one who was denied a normal life."

"Cyrus." Spyro called, a lump forming in his throat.

"You got friends." Cyrus hissed. "Got a brand new family." Cyrus continued. "A second chance."

The lump on Spyro's throat was growing, something was stinging at his eyes"Cyrus, I'm-"

"And me?" Cyrus cut Spyro off. "Always alone…" Cyrus said as he tightened the grip on his face. "Always in _pain_!" He roared, finally lifting his head, and looking at Spyro right in the eyes.

Tears of anger were slowly streaming down Cyrus' green eyes. The vertical slits on his eyes were thin lines, seeping an inhuman rage, throwing daggers at Spyro. Spyro then felt the same pain, the same agonized hatred he remembered from the first time he had looked at those eyes.

"I sorry, Cyrus!" Spyro cried, unable to hold back the tears anymore. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" He pleaded, his lower lip trembling.

Cyrus had suddenly stayed still, the hideous glare in his eyes unflinching and fixated on Spyro. "Sorry…" Cyrus hissed. "Doesn't. Cut it."

"Cyrus please… don't do this." He begged. "I don't want to hurt you anymore." He said, backing away from the indigo dragon. "I don't want to hurt my family!"

But it was no use. Cyrus used his wings to boost himself as he lunged at Spyro. The indigo dragon tackled the Skylander. Spyro dodged to his side, narrowly avoiding Cyrus' attack. However, as Cyrus landed beside Spyro, he spun quickly and used his tail to whip Spyro across his face, disorienting him. As Spyro tried to back away, Cyrus dipped his head and headbutted Spyro in the gut, knocking the air out of his lungs as he crashed back-first to the floor.

Spyro then felt as Cyrus crawled on top of him, pinning him to the ground. The next thing Spyro felt was a fist hammering against his face. His scales were barely cushioning Cyrus' brutal beating. With a quick motion of his own paw, Spyro tried to catch Cyrus fist midway down. It took all his strength, but in his paw, he held Cyrus' incoming blow. However, Spyro noticed that Cyrus moved to hit him with his free paw, so Spyro raised his free paw and once again, managed to catch the blow midway down.

Spyro now had both of Cyrus paws held in place. After a brief struggle, Spyro kicked Cyrus in the gut with his hind legs. However, Spyro didn't let go this time. He used the momentum of his kick to knock Cyrus to his side rather than off his body. So, as quickly as he could, Spyro rolled and pinned Cyrus to the ground, still holding his paws in place, preventing Cyrus from attacking him. As Cyrus squirmed frantically to get loose, struggling and grunting desperately, Spyro used every bit of strength in him to keep him down.

"Cyrus please." Spyro begged, looking down at Cyrus. "We don't have to hurt each other, just let me help you!" Spyro tried his best to sound comforting, but the lump on his throat hadn't dissolved yet, making speaking steadily difficult. "I know, you've been hurt, I underst-"

" _No_!" Cyrus suddenly howled, a blood curdling scream, that made Spyro's scales crawl. "You don't understand! How could you understand what it's like to be in pain every day, to have to go to sleep out of fatigue after three days of nightmares!?" He shouted, his eyes burning holes through Spyro. "To live, knowing you ruined the lives of six dragons you didn't even know…" He added, his look saddening slightly. "How could you _possibly, Understand!?"_

Then, Spyro noticed as the six gashes on Cyrus' chest began to glow, mirroring the enraged glow in the dragon's eyes. Afterwards, Cyrus took a deep breath and Spyro realised with horror what he was about to do. So, as quickly as he could, Spyro let go off Cyrus and backed up, just in time to avoid the stream of green and black flames that erupted from his mouth.

Cyrus breathed the green flames upward, roaring in rage and agony as they crashed on the ceiling, burning a hole through it, allowing daylight to seep into the chamber the two dragons were fighting inside of.

Spyro concluded that the potion taking away their powers had finally worn off at the worst possible time. Spyro looked as Cyrus got up slowly from the ground, breathing heavily. The same hateful, deranged look glowed in his eyes. Spyro noticed, with chills going down his spine, that Cyrus had not blinked once since they started fighting. He also noticed that wisps of dark smoke came out of the black insides of his gaping mouth.

Spyro then remembered what he had learned in the library in the previous room, about Cyrus' flames. "Cyrus, you're hurting yourself." Spyro warned, lifting his wings and getting ready to react. "You can't use your flames to much without healing, so don't." Spyro pleaded.

"I told you…" Cyrus began, still unblinking. "To stop acting… _like you care about me!_ " He roared in rage, before standing on his hind legs and taking in a deep breath.

Spyro knew, with a heavy heart what he had to do. So, closing his eyes, he too stood on his hind legs and inhaled. He could feel the warmth of his flames return, like a storm brewing in his lungs. He held the flames in and waited for Cyrus to attack.

After a few seconds, Spyro saw as Cyrus swayed forth and released a massive stream of green and black flames, aimed at Spyro. So, reacting just in time, Spyro released his own flames. They burst out of his mouth like a burning river, glowing redder and more intense than usual as they crashed against Cyrus' attack. It took all Spyro had in him to keep Cyrus' attack at bay, but even when he was giving it his all, Spyro could feel as his flames were being pushed back.

But then, with a blood curdling howl, Cyrus seemed to put even more power behind his attack, pushing Spyro's flames back and causing a violent explosion of green and orange, black and red. Spyro felt as Cyrus' cold, cruel flames grazed his scales. The pain was just as bad as he remembered. He felt the hideous cold spread over his scales, eating them away slowly, almost as if the fire itself knew where to burn to hurt Spyro the most. He felt the flames reach the left side of his chest, his left wing and his left cheek. All three spots burned with what felt like horrible frostbite as Spyro fell to the ground, landing on his side.

The pain was too horrible, too exact. Spyro couldn't move, he couldn't even lift his head off the ground. He was so overwhelmed he was starting to see black spots through his eyes. However, Spyro managed to look over to where Cyrus was standing. The indigo dragon didn't look much better than him, if anything, he looked a little worse.

Cyrus was laying on the ground, limp and with his mouth open, facing Spyro. There were still wisps of smoke coming out of his mouth, but they were thicker, more condensed and they were accompanied by what seemed to be green flaming sparks. Cyrus' eyes looked glassy and unfocused, like he too, was about to black out.

"Why?" Cyrus whispered, rasping heavily, in such a weak voice Spyro could barely hear. "Why… was I… never given a chance…" He paused, closing his eyes slowly. "To be happy?" He got out in a whisper, finishing with a weak exhale.

Spyro could only watch as Cyrus, his own brother, was swallowed by a pained sleep, the same sleep that was now overtaking him. With his last bits of conscious strength, Spyro turned his head up, to see the light coming through the hole Cyrus had blasted through the ceiling.

Then, Spyro could feel as the darkness called him, through the wall of sleep. Spyro could only shed a single tear, before he was too weak not to answer.

* * *

"Boss, I'm sure this isn't so bad." Enumat said in a mellow voice as he looked at his new boss floating through the large circular room they were in. It was made of black stonework, very fancy, like the armchair Enumat was sitting on, which was one of a few in the room.

Enumat noticed Omen was missing one of his hands, something Enumat felt like he should ask about, but held himself back.

"But it _is_ so bad!" Omen responded suddenly, making Enumat shrink. "You don't understand. That boy is more dangerous than you realize." He warned.

"Ohh come on." Enumat began, trying to cheer his new boss up. "You're like, the most powerful dude I've ever met! He's just some sleepy runt! How much harm could he do?"

"As much as I appreciate your praise." Omen said, turning his back to Enumat. "That _sleepy runt,_ represents a huge problem if he gets caught by the Skylanders." He said, making Enumat listen in, eager to see what made Cyrus so special. "Cyrus, as I'm sure you've seen, has rather peculiar flames. That green and black fire is called Hellblaze, and the fact he has the control he does over them, makes him one of the most dangerous creatures in the Skylands"

"Really?" Enumat asked, a hint of disbelief in his voice. The large cyclop remembered Cyrus blowing a hole into Avril's ice wall, but that wasn't _sooo_ impressive. "I mean, those flames are cool and all, but, a top dog in the _Skylands? Him?_ That sounds a little bit far fetched."

"I saw him-" Omen began, still looking away from Enumat. "Incinerate a Fire Viper's head _-"_ He paused. "When he was _eight years old."_ Omen said, not stuttering once. "He fell into a coma for like a week afterwards, but still."

Enumat opened his mouth, leaving his jaw hanging beneath his eyeball. No sound came out, he was too busy processing what he had just heard. Enumat had fought Fire Vipers before. With help from his boys and with a great deal of effort, he managed to escape with his life.

"You're pulling my leg, right?" Enumat asked, forcing himself to speak. "There's no way anyone can kill a Fire Viper by themselves, especially that easily, right?"

"I was shocked too." Omen stated simply. "If I hadn't seen him do it, I probably wouldn't have believed it." He admitted. "When I saw that, I thought two things." Omen began. "The first was: _Holy ravioli, pepperoni, macaroni! Those are some powerful flames!"_ Omen exclaimed in a shrill voice as he gestured exaggeratedly with his little sting arms. "The second thing was:" Omen suddenly composed himself before speaking slowly. "This kid… is more powerful than me."

Enumat's jaw fell limp under his jaw once again. The burly cyclop's brain was having a hard time keeping up with what he was hearing.

"Do you know why I'm so harsh on Cyrus, why I treat him the way I do?" Omen asked out loud. "Because-" He answered before Enumat could try. "A dragon's powers are directly linked to their emotions. If they feel really _happy_ or really _angry…_ they can become a little hard to manage. So, by keeping Cyrus afraid, by keeping him miserable, I have the ability to keep him in his place." He said.

"So what?" Enumat asked, trying to get a grip on the what he was being told. "What does this mean?"

"Cyrus, is dangerous enough, when his emotional spectrum is _flatlining."_ Omen said, emphasizing the last word. "However, whenever he is around that other lizard, _Spyro_." Omen explained, hissing the Sklander's name. "He gets a little... _emotional._ As you understand, I can't have that."

Enumat had heard enough. He didn't like Cyrus to begin with so the idea of him getting any sort of power boost was not really appealing to him. "Well, then you've got no choice! If he's gonna be this much trouble, you should-" Enumat drew his finger across his neck and made weird creaking sound. "Because I really don't like the idea of having to fight a punk who managed to solo a Fire Viper."

"But I don't want to kill him!" Omen said in a whiny voice as he slumped into one of the unoccupied armchairs in the room. "He's such a good henchman!" He continued, almost like a puting child.

"Oh, well…" Omen began, slowly composing himself but looking a little down. Then, he began to raise his remaining hand above his hand. He continued, starting to slowly make a fist with his remaining hand, which began to glow a faint, bloody red. "C'est la vie."

* * *

 _Author's notes_

 _Suprise! Early chapter and plot twist chapter! Longest one yet too. Already at the two-digit numbers people, only tree more chapters left. Keep your eyes out for them!_

\- I still don't own Skylanders Academy

\- I wonder what's gonna happen between Spyro and Cyrus next?


	11. Chapter 11

**Skylanders Academy: New Horizon**

by andresponceb2002

 **Chapter 11) Bad Omen**

There was darkness. Pure and absolute. No sound could be heard.

Spyro felt paralyzed, unable see, unable to move, unable to speak in the darkness. But, Spyro felt at ease, he felt a comforting warmth over him, he felt like someone, someone he couldn't see, but trusted fully, was looking over him. He felt safe.

"What do you think we should name him?" A male voice asked through the darkness. It was rough, but kind, and was heightened with excitement.

"I don't know." Another voice answered. This one was female and it sounded silvery and pleasant. The voice spoke slowly and softly, as if it was trying not to wake someone up. "Buuut, you know? I've always really liked-" The voice paused, as if was thinking its answer through. "Spyro." The voice said in a warm tone.

Spyro felt a rush of warmth shot through him, making him feel fuzzy inside. _Spyro_ … that was his name… he liked his name.

"Oh, that's a good one. I really like that one!" The first voice exclaimed in a quiet tone. "You're so good at picking names."

The second voice then giggled. "What a nice thing for you to say. I just hope you are just as good at picking them because you get to name the second one."

The first voice then gasped and spoke excitedly. "Oh wow. I- I just…" The excitement got the better of the first voice, making the second voice giggle again. However after a short breath, the first voice composed itself and spoke, still a little quickly. "Okay, okay. I've been workshoping this one. You tell me if it's any good. Don't want him getting picked on or anything."

"Of course." The second voice replied warmly.

"Alright, how do you feel about…" The first voice paused. "Cyrus? Is that like a cool name?"

"Cyrus…" The second voice repeated slowly. "Yes, that's a wonderful name."

Spyro then heard the first voice quietly hiss something that sounded like: _Yisss._

But then, Spyro heard something… different. The sound wasn't a voice like the what Spyro had heard up to that point. It actually sounded like a heartbeat. Spyro didn't know why, but he somehow knew that it wasn't his own heartbeat, or that of the voices. It was someone else's. It sounded a little far away, but still close somehow. It was a strange feeling, but, it was what it was. Whoever that heartbeat belonged to, Spyro could tell like they were important, someone dear to him, someone he felt close to.

Spyro then felt as he started smiling. He didn't know why, but he felt happy, so very happy. He felt like he was surrounded by people who cared about him. He felt like he was with… yes. He was with his family. Spyro couldn't ask for anything more than this.

"I'll go call the elders, get their names written down on the tree." The first voice said.

"I'll stay here with them meanwhile." The second voice said softly

"Alright then, I'll get going!" The first voice exclaimed excitedly. Then, Spyro heard the sound of footsteps leading away from him.

A few moments passed in a pleasant silence. Spyro could feel that whoever the second voice belonged to, had indeed stayed with him. He could feel them watching over him. Then, Spyro heard a strange and beautiful sound. The voice had started humming delicately, a little song they had made up, just for him. It was a soft melody, soothing to listen to. Spyro could feel himself smile from hearing its pleasant sound.

Then, Spyro heard as footsteps sounded again, returning toward where he was. They started hastily, but slowed down as they got closer, not wanting to interrupt the second voice's humming.

"I wonder which one of us they'll take after." The second voice said suddenly, speaking softly, slowing down it's humming.

"I think they'll get your eyes." The first voice answered.

"Hah, which ones?" The second voice asked again in a playful tone.

"Both." The first answered. "I bet each one will get one of your two colors."

"That's impossible!" The second voice said laughing, making the first laugh as well.

"You'll see." The first voice said, recovering from their laughter. "One of them is going to have beautiful red eyes, and the other elegant green eyes."

The second voice sighed, a short, happy sigh. "We'll see. I just hope this whole War blows over by then." It said, its voice saddening slightly.

"Heyyy…" The first voice said slowly in a comforting tone. "I'm sure Eon will get this whole mess under control. This War will burn out one day- one day soon. Then, we'll all be a big happy family." The first voice said reassuringly. Spyro would like that very much. "Strykore isn't tough enough to beat all of us." The voice stated.

"What a bold statement Darlan." A new voice said suddenly. It was gravely and was smeared with a malevolent edge. It made Spyro suddenly feel really scared. "Mind if we test it's veracity?"

"Strykore!?" Both of the voices exclaimed suddenly.

"What are you doing here you monster!?" Darlan's voice shouted.

"I'm here on a recruitment mission." Strykore's voice stated simply, ending in a low growl. "And _you,_ unbearable lizards, are the recruits!" He said maliciously.

"Did you hit your head on your way here?" Darlan asked in a mocking voice. "We'd never join you!"

"Yes, you purple dragons are quite stubborn." Strykore growled. "That's why I won't leave that choice up to you!" Afterwards, the crackle of magical lightning filled the air around Spyro.

"Darlan! Get the kids out of here!" The female voice shouted.

"I'm not leaving you to fight him alone, Silver!" Darlan shouted back. Suddenly a loud blast sounded, dangerously close to Spyro, followed by pained grunt from Darlan. The darkness made it difficult for Spyro to understand what was going on.

"He can't take me." Silver's voice said, still speaking pleasantly, but confidently, filled with tenacity. "But I can't let him hurt the kids… So get out of here!"

"But I…" Darlan's voice started, but it was interrupted by another blast of lightning. It sounded just as close to Spyro and was followed again by another pained groan from Darlan's voice.

"Just go!" Silver's voice shouted. At that, Spyro heard as what sounded like a jet of flames erupted somewhere nearby, it was followed by a frightened yelp form a gravelly voice Spyro guessed was Strykore's.

After a short pause, Spyro felt like the world around him began to shake. He felt like he was being moved around and lifted off the ground. He also felt like that other heartbeat was picked up alongside with him. It was beating faster, as if it was just as scared as Spyro. It also felt a little further away, but still there. Spyro could also hear a very powerful wingbeat, it sounded hurried as it sliced through the wind.

"Kids." Darlan's voice sounded suddenly after a couple of moments. "I don't know if you can hear me, but..." It paused, and spoke in a strangled voice. "I just want you two to know… that, your mother and I… we lo-"

Before Spyro could hear what Darlan's voice was about to say, Spyro felt like the world shook suddenly. Darlan gave out a loud howl of pain as the crackle of magic filled the air.

"You can't escape _me_ , purple fool!" Strykore's voice shouted. He was back. "You and your putrid kind will be my servants forever more!" He shouted with a malevolent laugh as the sound of magic being fired shot close to Spyro. Then, Spyro felt like he was being laid down somewhere, that second heartbeat still close to him, making him feel a little relieved.

"What did you do to Silver!?" Darlan roared. "Answer me!"

"The same thing I'm going to do to you." Strykore stated sinsterly. "Don't worry. You, your beloved _and_ your lovely children will still be one _big, happy family_ …" Strykore spoke the last words in a derisive and disgusted voice. "While you all help me destroy the Core of Light!"

Spyro then heard a furious, mighty roar. Then Spyro heard an intense struggle, a thunderous battle. He heard fire burn and magic whistle through the air. There were groans of pain, the sound of trees being snapped in half and labored breathing.

"You should already know that you can't beat me." Strykore's voice began. "If you'd simply give up, this would all be so much easier for all of us."

"Hah! I'm too much of a hardhead to do things the easy way, pal." Darlan responded, an undaunted tone in his voice. "And mark my words, you'll have to kill me before you lay a finger on my kids." Darlan stateded boldly.

A short pause ensued, a tense moment where time held still for Spyro, all that sounded was the small, frightened heartbeat beside him. Then, Strykore's voice sounded. "That…" He began. "Can be arranged."

Then, Spyro felt the ground shake. He could feel himself bounce in the darkness as the ground beneath him quaked. He felt as the heartbeat beside him was inching slightly further away from him, little by little. Then, Spyro felt a horrible sensation crawl up his spine. He started to hear something like a cardboard ball, slowly rolling away from him. As the rolling sound got further away, Spyro noticed that so did the heartbeat that had been following him so far.

The further away that heartbeat got, the worse Spyro began to feel. It was like a tiny piece of him was slowly being ripped away. Spyro tried desperately to squirm in the darkness, trying to reach out to the fainter and fainter heartbeat.

"No!" Darlan's voice shouted in a terribly distressed tone. "Cyrus!" He shouted. "No, no, no!"

"My, how unfortunate for such a valuable resource to be lost to an unfortunate fall." Strykore's voice said, no real regret was in his voice. "Oh well, I guess I can spare one servant."

" _No."_ Spyro tried to say, but no sound came. _"Brother?"_ He called, but no one answered, the sound of the heartbeat nowhere to be found. _"Cyrus? Cyrus!?"_

* * *

"Cyrus!?" Spyro shouted at the top of his lungs as he flung his eyes open and he stood up suddenly, stretching his wings and tensing up..

"Woah, woah!" Spyro heard someone say suddenly in a startled voice. "Dude you're fine, you're fine!"

Spyro looked around, breathing heavily, cold sweat running down his temples. As his eyes focused and he started to scan where he was, Spyro began to slowly calm down.

The purple dragon was in his room, standing on his bed. As he got his bearings, Spyro looked to his left, to where the voice he had heard had come from. Standing beside his bed, with a very concerned look on his face, stood Eruptor.

"Are you okay, man?" The magma Skylander asked tentatively.

Spyro's memory suddenly kicked into gear. With a splitting headache, that made him groan and knit his brow, Spyro suddenly remembered what had happened, what he had found out about himself… about his family.

"Where is Cyrus?" Spyro asked, not wanting to waste time.

"Dude, you were pretty banged up." Eruptor said in a concerned tone. "You were out cold for a whole day! We were all worried sick and Master Eon and Kaossandra really want to talk to you."

Spyro suddenly felt a sense of dread overtake him. _"A whole day?"_ He repeated to himself, his heartbeat rising steadily. "Eruptor-" Spyro started, trying to keep his voice steady, mostly failing. "Where is Cyrus?"

"He's locked up at Cloudcracker Prison." Eruptor answered. "Why do you need to know?"

Spyro had stopped listening after _Cloudcracker Prison_. The purple dragon then took flight off his bed, heading for the room's door.

"Hey! What are you doing!?" Eruptor shouted suddenly, using his body to block the door. "Why are you so riled up? And what's with the sudden interest in Cyrus? You've been knocked out for a day after Sprocket found you in some creepy cave and _he_ is the first thing that pops up in your mind?"

"Eruptor, please." Spyro asked in a pleading voice. "I just need to see him. There's something we need to talk about."

"Something you two have to _talk_ about?" Eruptor asked in a suspicious voice. "Okay, now I'm definitely not letting you go see him. You're doing that thing again where you bottle stuff up and get yourself hurt."

"Eruptor…" Spyro began. "I nee-"

"No! No way!" Eruptor interrupted, not having any of it. "You're going to talk all of us through this mess and then, _maybe_ Master Eon and Kaossandra can let you go see that, _monster_." He hissed the last word spitefully.

Spyro growled and clenched his fists. "Don't call him that." He snapped, a little harsher than he meant, which made Eruptor look a little hurt. Realizing this, Spyro himself felt a little ashamed. So, with a short, defeated sigh, he spoke. "Alright. I'll come clean."

"In front of everyone!" Eruptor interjected. "No keeping any secrets!"

Spyro looked at the floor. He wasn't eager, but he knew there was no way around his friends. "Fine, let's just go, then."

* * *

Spyro walked slowly in front of Eruptor as both Skylanders walked toward the Academy main gates. They passed several other Skylanders who were all having their own day as they reached the large blue gates leading to the Academy common room, where Eruptor had said everyone was waiting for Spyro.

"Look, man." Eruptor began from behind Spyro. "Just be honest, we're your friends, we can help." He said in a caring voice.

Spyro didn't look back to Eruptor, he just took a deep breath before pushing the gates open, allowing him to enter the common room, leaving his friend behind him.

Inside, were Stealth Elf, Pop Fizz, Jet-Vac, Cynder, Master Eon and Kaossandra. They were all standing around the first floor of the room, with troubled looks on their faces.

"Guys." Eruptor called, making everyone face him and Spyro. "He's up."

"Spyro!" Everyone exclaimed, suddenly lighting up. The Skylanders then rushed over to their friend. And bombarded him with questions and caring cometary.

"We were worried sick lad!" Jet-Vac said.

"How did you end up in that weird tomb?" Stealth Elf asked as she knicked him in the arm in a friendly gesture. "Thank goodness Sprocket fixed her tracking monitor, else we all would have been in trouble.

"You should really avoid getting burned with those flames so often, dude." Pop Fizz recommended. "We're kind of running a little low on that Healing Elixir thingy, you know?"

Spyro was a little overwhelmed by the onslaught of words, so he unwillingly took a step back from his friends. "Guys, I woke up like five minutes ago. A little break please?" He said, a little too cuttingly, which made the Skylanders flinch slightly.

"Spyro?" A soft voice spoke. From behind the group of Skylanders Cynder stepped forward, a warm little smile on her face. "It's- It's good to see you up and well again." She said.

Spyro looked at his friend. She was standing a little close to him, which made Spyro's face feel a little hot and made him lips curl slightly up in a tiny smile. Then, Cynder took a step forward and wrapped her arms around Spyro, resting her head on his shoulder, embracing him in warm hug.

"I'm happy to see you're okay." She said in a soft voice.

Spyro then felt something he only seemed to feel when Cynder was near him. He felt like a comforting, tingling warmth spread slowly through his body, spreading from wherever he felt Cynder's body against his. He then raised his arms, slowly, about to embrace his friend back.

But suddenly, something flashed through Spyro's mind. Cold, wounding words that overpowered even Cynder's embrace. _"Why?"_ Cyrus' voice pierced through his thoughts, his face burning through his memories _"Why was I never given a chance to be happy?"_ As those words crossed through Spyro's mind, his arms froze up, midway in the air. Then, Spyro grabbed Cynder by the shoulders and slowly, albeit steadily, he began to pull her away from him.

"I'm sorry." He managed to say in a low voice, refusing to look at Cynder in the eyes as he let go of her. The felt the warmth she had given him faded away slowly, woundingly.

Spyro then managed to lift his gaze, he looked at Cynder, wanting to apologize further. But, when he looked at her face, Spyro felt a cold stab in his heart, stopping him from speaking. Cynder looked at Spyro with a pained expression. Her blue eyes were glistening and seemed very slightly drooped, her lower lip was lightly curled up and trembled slightly as her mouth hung halfway open, as if she didn't understand what Spyro had done.

Spyro felt like he wanted to take what he did back. He wanted to hold Cynder in his arms again, he never wanted to see her look at him like that. So, Spyro tried to take a step forward, stretching out one of his arms to Cynder. "Cynder I…" He started.

But she took a step back from him and then another, staying out of Spyro's reach, still looking at him with the same wounded expresion. Spyro then felt another stab of cold in his heart, making him wince. He never remembered feeling this way. It hurt… it hurt really bad.

Spyro was filled up with regret for hurting Cynder. But with a heavy heart and a furrowed brow, he managed to walk through his friends, toward Master Eon and Kaossandra, who were looking at him with worried eyes.

"Master Eon…" Spyro began, with his head low. "I need to go to Cloudcracker Prison."

"And why is that?" Master Eon questioned in concerned tone.

"I need…" Spyro started. _"To help my brother."_ He thought, not able to say it outloud. Instead, Spyro said what he had said to Eruptor. "I need to talk to Cyrus." That was the truth, so Spyro stuck with that.

"Why do you need to talk to him?" Kaossandra questioned. "He is still dangerous, even in Cloudcracker Prison. He has refused to say anything at all. Not just information about what Omen's plans are, but he literally has not said a single word since we captured him." The sorceress stated. "What could you even have to talk about anyway?"

"I just need to talk to him." Spyro said quickly, trying to keep this brief. "It's important."

"What do you mean?" Master Eon asked. "Spyro, you can tell me." He said warmly.

" _Can I tell him?"_ Spyro thought to himself. _"Can I tell_ any _of them? How could they understand something like this?"_ He pondered fanatically.

"Spyro." Master Eon picked up. "Please, let me help you… I'm here for you. Just tell me how I can help."

"Master Eon." Spyro started up, barely able to hold it in anymore. "No offence but, how would you be able to help me with _this_ of all things?" He asked.

"W-Well, I'm sure if you tell me." Master Eon began. "I could find a way."

Spyro was at the end of his rope. And so, with a short sigh, he let go. "I found out, that I have a brother." Spyro stated. "And I also found out that, this brother is none other that Cyrus."

Silence hung over the air in the common room. Spyro could almost feel like everyone's eyes were fixated on him. He could feel their pity and concern hang over him. He didn't need that, he didn't need any of this. He needed to talk to his brother.

"So? Master Eon?" Spyro mustered. "Can you help? Or are you going to let me go handle this?" He demanded as he looked at his mentor, a pleading but stern look in his eyes.

No answer came from the ethereal portal master, he just looked at Spyro with his eyes wide and mouth agape. However, he composed himself, shaking his head slowly and speaking quickly. "Y-You have a _b-brother_!? Are you sure!? How on earth did you find out!?"

"That cave I was in." Spyro began. "I held a lot of secrets about my dragon kind. Including a family tree." He continued. "With that tree, I learned who my parents were and that… Cyrus is my brother." He said, the words sounding wrong as they came out of his mouth. Spyro was still not over what he had learned.

"Spyro." Kaossandra spoke suddenly, making Spyro look over to her. "If this is true, then you really do need to go speak with him." She said. "Learning something like this most have certainly been difficult for you both, but, since you learned it together and since it links you together, only you two can help each other."

Spyro ran Kaossandra's words through his mind. She was right. So, with a steady nod Spyro spoke. "I'm going to Cloudcracker Prison. I'll be back." He stated as he raised his wings and quickly took off, flying out of the common room out of the empty clearing behind Master Eon's desk, flying out of the Academy and heading to Cloudcracker Prison.

* * *

Omen was taping it's fingers on the armrest of his chair. It was slumped down on one of the many armchairs in the circular, black marble room, waiting.

It tapped its remaining fingers on the armrest, still waiting. Omen had still not brought itself to get a new hand since it had lost its original a while ago when that undead dragon escaped it's grasp. It had quite a few spare parts lying around here and there, but hadn't used them yet.

Omen was waiting. Still waiting. Still taping it's fingers on the armrest. But nothing happened. Omen was still no closer to getting its dragons.

"Well, that's just sad." Omen began, getting up from the armchair. "You know, it has always made me so mad-" It continued speaking, even if no one was in the room. Omen then used its remaining hand to draw a circle on the air. As Omen finished drawing it, it turned pitch black and strange purple runes appeared around its edge. Omen then drove it's hand into the darkness, reaching out for something inside. "-That some wise guy from a hundred years ago, gets to be right about stuff that happens today."

From the darkness, Omen extracted what looked like a strange new arm. The shoulder was made of a metallic shoulder pad from a knight's armor. Connected to the shoulder pad, were three intertwined strings, one green, one orange and one purple, like the rags that hung beneath Omen's waist. Connected to these strings was a large, ,metallic claw, that had six sharp fingers. The fingers were divided in three pairs that each opposed the other, like a set of jaws.

Then, the wooden shoulder that was missing part of its red string and it's hand, suddenly popped off from Omen's yellow chest, falling to the ground beside it with a loud clatter. Then, using its remaining hand, Omen grabbed the new arm and connected the shoulder pad to its chest. The limb stuck on steadily and Omen could feel sensation spread across its new arm. Omen then moved its new hand through the air, watching as it floated, leaving the three colorful, intertwined strings behind it while Omen flexed the new hand's sharp metal fingers.

Satisfied, Omen resumed its little soliloquy after a short disembodied sigh. "Well, I suppose I can't blame them for being right." Omen continued as it drew another, much larger circle in front of itself, large enough for Omen to cross through. As the strange runes surrounded the edge of the dark circle, an image shimmered on its surface.

"After all, I guess it _is_ true what they say." Omen continued. "If you want something done _right-_ " It quoted, entonating the last word. "You have to do it… _yourself._ " Omen said as the image of Skylander Academy came into view through the portal's dark mouth.

* * *

The wind was blowing beneath Spyro's wings, almost as if wanted him to reach Cyrus as quickly as Spyro himself wanted.

The trip from the Academy to Cloudcracker Prison was rather long, but flying at this speed with this wind behind him, Spyro was sure he could get there much faster than usual.

Many things were crossing Spyro's mind as the clouds and isle passed beside him. the thought that was most present in his mind was: _"What am I going to say to him?"_ Spyro had had the urge, the drive to talk to Cyrus face to face since their fight, since they both had their worlds turned around by the truth of who they were. However, Spyro hadn't really thought of _what_ to say to his brand new brother.

"Hey dude, we're brothers! That means we have to love each other right?" Spyro rehearsed by himself. Acknowledging the quality of that awful dialogue, Spyro let out a stressed groan. He would just have to say what came to him in the moment.

The next thing on Spyro's mind was something that he was actively trying to shut out. The memory of Cynder's face, how wounded she had looked when he drove her away from him. Spyro felt his heart ache just from pictureing her looking at him like that.

Spyro could remember having strange feelings for Cynder for a while now, but he never imagined she felt the same, partly because he didn't know how he would, or even _should_ react if she did. But one thing was clear to him, he had hurt her. He never wanted to that to her again.

But despite how bad he felt about it, Spyro couldn't bring himself to completely regret doing what he did. He needed to talk to Cyrus, that much he knew. So he settled for shutting the image of Cynder out of his mind for the moment.

And after a few minutes of flying, as the massive outer wall of Cloudcracker Prison loomed over the clouds, Spyro was about to get his chance. He swallowed hard, bracing himself for his little family meeting.

* * *

Cynder walked out of the Academy common room opening the large blue doors with her paws. She walked with her gaze low as she headed to her dormitory across the Academy.

" _Cyrus is his brother?"_ She thought to herself, completely dumbfounded by the very idea. _"No wonder he was acting so weird."_ Cynder could only imagine how Spyro must have felt after finding out news like that, after figuring out what something like that would mean.

She then remembered what had happened between them. How she had reacted, how Spyro must have felt. She felt regret at how they had left things, she felt like they should have talked things through. But now, Spyro was gone, off to Cloudcracker Prison to talk to his long lost brother. She guessed now wasn't the best time to talk about… how they felt about…

Cynder shook her head suddenly, pushing her thoughts out of her mind and rubbing her suddenly heated cheeks. Cynder concluded that they would talk things over when the time came. Right now, Cynder was going home for a much needed rest.

"Cynder!" A familiar voice called from behind her, sounding distant.

"Stealth Elf?" Cynder asked as she turned around, looking out for her green friend.

"Cynder!" Stealth Elf's voice, followed by a loud popping noise sounded extremely close to Cynder, startling her and making her jump back in surprise.

"What is it Elf?" Cynder asked her friend, turning around to face the ninja Skylander.

"I just thought." Stealth Elf began. "You and Spyro are really close, right?" She asked unexpectedly.

Cynder tried her best to keep a straight face as she answered. "W-What do you mean?" She asked innocently.

"Well, you became friends really fast." Stealth Elf explained. "And ever since this whole Knights of Solitude mess started, you've kind of grown even closer." She added, making Cynder blush slightly. "So, I was thinking, maybe, he told you something? Did he mention anything about this at all to you?"

"No, he didn't." Cynder answered honestly. "I had no idea this whole brother thing was a problem before today. Actually, I think he didn't know about it himself for a while either."

"I guess." Stealth Elf said in a down tone, crossing her arms and looking away from Cynder. "I just wish this whole thing would just blow away already you know? But instead, it just seems to keep getting worse and worse."

"Yeah." Cynder agreed, sharing the sentiment exactly. "We'll just have to wait a little longer I guess." She said, looking down again.

"Man, those are some good tomatoes!" A horrible voice sounded suddenly through the air, not coming from anywhere, yet all over. Its metallic resonance made Cynder and Stealth Elf instinctively cover their ears and wince in pain,

"Thanks dude!" A different voice sounded. "I grow them myself!"

Cynder then turned her head to where the second voice came from, her right, over at the main road to the entrance before the Academy. When she looked over, she felt the blood drain from her face.

Standing on the little bridge that connected the Academy to a large green isle where visitors arrived and left the Academy, stood Food Fight. The little green Skylander was talking to someone in front of him. That person, had a wooden yellow chest, string-like arms and a cylindrical, smoking cage for a head and they were looming over the green Skylander.

Omen was in the Academy. That monster could only be here for one reason and as Cynder realised what that reason was, while she remembered the dark memories of Omen defeating her and her friends single handedly on multiple occasions, Cynder's heart began to race and sweat began to pour down her temples.

"Cynder." Stealth Elf said in a quiet voice. "You need to get out of here." She said.

When Cynder looked over to Stealth Elf, she noticed that she too, looked rather uneasy at the mighty villain's unexpected arrival. Her eyes were wide, focused on Omen while drops of sweat slowly ran down her face as well.

"I can't leave." Cynder said. "He's too dangerous."

"He is here for you." Stealth Elf said as she slowly drew her ninja daggers. "If he catches you, we'll all be in trouble."

"You know I can hear you, right?" Omen's voice sounded agonisingly loudly around Cynder and Stealth Elf, making them cover their ears and hiss in pain again. They had no idea the surreal villian was aware of them.

"Also, If you leave, undead girl-" Omen continued suddenly. "I kill everyone in your little circus here." He threatened in a dangerous voice.

"Hey! I thought you were cool dude!" Food Fight exclaimed suddenly from below Omen.

Then, in a blindingly fast motion, Omen picked up Food Fight using one of his hands by one of the leaves on the Skylander's head, making him exclaim in pain. Then, Omen used his other hand, which looked awfully different from the one he originally had, to draw a large circle horizontally in front of himself. Then, without hesitation, Omen dropped Food Fight inside. The green Skylander gave out a frightened scream that was cut off when the portal closed, sending him who-knows-where.

"Food Fight!" Cynder and Stealth Elf cried at the same time, shocked and frightened by their fellow Skylander's disappearance at the hands of their malevolent foe.

"Hey, what's going on?" A female voice asked suddenly.

Cynder turned her head to her left to see Hex, Skull and Roller Brawl suddenly run up to the Academy main entrance, where they stood, analyzing the situation. Her friends' arrival made her feel a little less frightened.

"Who's that guy?" Roller Brawl asked as she pointed at Omen.

"You know, pointing is rude." Omen stated sheepishly at the undead Skylander's motion.

"I already don't like him." Skull stated flatly.

"Guys, be careful." Cynder warned her fellow Undead Club members. "That's one very powerful villian."

"Yeah." Stealth Elf added. "And he's here to kidnap Cynder." She explained.

"Someone wants to kidnap a Skylander?" A new female voice asked with disbelief. "They can't be very bright." Sprocket stated.

Cynder looked to her right. She saw Sprocket, Chill, Wind Up and Flashwing, all walking up to the Academy main entrance. The fear in Cynder's heart was starting to fade away.

"You can say that again Sprocket!" Yet another voice sounded, this one was male and came from behind Omen. The Skylanders and the surreal villian looked over to the clear isle before the Academy, where Ka-Boom and Bad Breath stood, already in battle pose.

"If this freakshow wants to take one of us." Ka-Boom began, drawing his huge cannon. "He's gonna have to go through _all_ of us!"

"Yeah!" Everyone shouted in unison, in a single voice, determined and unwavering.

The fear in Cynder's heart was completely gone. She smiled confidently as she got into battle pose alongside her fellow Skylanders as they all surrounded Omen, who was looking around him, his glowing purple eyes round with what Cynder guessed was panic.

Then, Omen slowly steadied himself. The villian looked like he had composed himself, as if being surrounded by Skylanders wasn't so much trouble. Then something happened, something that made a little fear creep back into Cynder's heart.

Omen laughed. A short, low snicker that turned into a mild, throaty chuckle. But then, the bizzare-looking villian bent over and let out a full, loud and wholehearted laugh that sounded like metallic cutlery falling loudly on the ground. Then, Omen composed himself once again. Taking a long breath, the villian stood upright and spoke.

"Ohhhh, this is going to be fun." Omen said slowly, looking upward to the skies. "Very… fun… indeed…" He said, slowly lowering his head, his purple eyes lit up with a deranged bloodlust. "Well then!? Come on _heeeeroooooes_!" Omen dared, entonating the last word mockingly, spreading his arms out and puffing out his chest.

"Let's all _die_ a little!"

* * *

Spyro was walking down the lower wing of Cloudcracker Prison, being escorted by Snapshot. The Doom Raiders in the lower wing were all giving Spyro and Snapshot dirty looks behind their cell bars, but none of them spoke up or spat any insults. Spyro guessed they were all feeling a little under the weather after Broccoli Guy had conned them out of their freedom.

Meanwhile, Snapshot was taking Spyro to The Hole, the most secure cell in the prison and the place where they had locked Cyrus up in.

"Spyro, I must insist that you reconsider this… _visit_ of yours." Snapshot said as he led Spyro down to The Hole. "If what I've heard about this dragon is true, then he is perhaps the most dangerous prisoner we've ever had in here."

"That's alright Snapshot." Spyro said hurriedly. "I just need to talk to him."

"Well I hope you're a better interrogator than the people I've got here." Snapshot said. "We haven't been able to get even a peep out of him."

"I'll work around that." Spyro said as the two skylanders reached the end of the lower wing and only a large brick wall lay before them. "Ummm, Snapshot, where's The Hole?" Spyro asked confused.

"Right here." Snapshot answered simply. Then, the senior Skylander stretched out his hand and pushed a specific brick in the wall, which then caused a stone archway to slide open, leading down a long, dark stairway al the way down to The Hole.

"Any lights?" Spyro asked nervously as he looked at the darkness before him.

"Oh, well, I have _this_." Snapshot said as he pulled out a little flashlight out one of his pockets and the handed it to Spyro who took hold of it with one of his paws.

"Thanks Snapshot." Spyro thanked his friend as he began to move toward the stairway. But, before Spyro could reach the first step down, he was held back by the shoulder by Snapshot.

"Be careful boy." He warned before letting go and began to walk away. Spyro assumed he had other prison things to manage beside this.

So, with a hesitant breath, Spyro turned the flashlight on. And while holding his light in hand, he took fight and then dove down the winding stairway down to The Hole. As he landed on the dark grey floor, Spyro noticed a large barred door he guessed led to the actual cell where Cyrus was being held. Spyro felt a sense of unease hang over him as he neared the door. But Spyro steadied himself. He took a deep breath and stretched his paw forth, opening the door as he walked through, faster than his mind could second guess the action.

Spyro now stood in the edge of the large dome-like cell that was The Hole. He remembered the last time he had been here was almost a year ago, when the Doom Raiders were his biggest concern.

"What are you doing here?" A quiet voice asked suddenly, pulling Spyro out of his nostalgia trip.

"You know why I'm here." Spyro answered as he lowered his head to see the shape of an indigo dragon laying down on the floor in the center of the room, facing away from Spyro. "We need to talk." Spyro said in a soft voice.

"What is there to talk about?" Cyrus asked, still facing away from Spyro. "You and I are brothers. That's easy enough to understand."

"Cyrus, please." Spyro said, taking a step forward toward Cyrus. "I know you're hurting, but not facing this isn't going to help you."

"Then what do you want me to do!?" Cyrus roared suddenly, standing up and facing Spyro, his venomous green eyes, fixated on him. "What do you want from me!?"

Spyro was taken back. Once again, he was unaware of just how badly Cyrus was hurting. He had no idea of what to say because fate had been as cruel to Cyrus as it had been kind to him. He had no idea what Cyrus was feeling and as long as he didn't, he couldn't help him. So, Spyro thought of the only thing he though had any chance of working in helping him reach out to Cyrus.

"Help me understand." Spyro said simply, trying to sound as convincing as he could.

"What did you say?" Cyrus demanded, confused.

"Help me understand what you're feeling." Spyro continued. "If I'm going to help you… I need to understand."

Cyrus' gaze softened slightly, ever so slightly. "I thought I told you... to stop acting like you care about me."

Spyro felt like he needed to push a little harder. Cyrus wasn't going to give up anything like this. So, reluctantly, Spyro tired aiming for a nerve. "What does it feel like?" Spyro asked boldly. "When Omen hurts you with the brand?"

Spyro saw as Cyrus' eyes went round from shock. He wasn't expecting this approach. Then, the indigo dragon suddenly took his left paw and started scratching the mark over his left eye slowly. "You… want to know… what it feels like?" He asked slowly.

Spyro simply nodded. Bracing himself for the worst.

"Hoh, how to describe it?" Cyrus began, looking down and away from Spyro. "Do you remember, when you were a kid, and you had this… _unnatural_ fear of the doctor's syringes?" Cyrus continued. "Do you remember how much it hurt? To have that little metal needle poke through your skin? How loud you screamed when it was just buried in you skin, not really doing anything at all except hurting you?"

Spyro began to unwillingly summon several memories of when Eon took him to get vaccinated when he was a kid. Cyrus' description was terrifyingly exact .

"Well... I want you to help me a little bit." Cyrus said, scratching his red mark a little faster as he spoke, a small tremor spreading through his body. "I want you, to take that feeling, that surgically exact pain that you felt in one tiny spot on your arm, and I want you to picture that feeling spread across your whole body. Not a single inch left untouched. A perfect blanket of miniscule needles piercing your skin for minutes on end." Cyrus said, suddenly starting to scratch his chest and neck with his free paw. "Now I want you, to picture how it would _feel_ like… to experience that exquisite sensation every time, you talked back, every time you got back to your home late, every time you used your flames, your wings, the very things that make you a dragon." Cyrus hissed, scratching his body wildly as his shaking grew more intense, almost as if he was trying to get the needles he was talking about off him.

Spyro was speechless, his imagination wasn't vivid enough to picture what Cyrus was describing and he actually felt a little grateful. What Cyrus was describing was horrible. Spyro felt like that alone meant Cyrus suffered more in one normal day of his life than Spyro did in weeks of his. It was agonisingly unfair.

"Then, I want you to picture _this._ " Cyrus picked up, filling Spyro with dread at the thought of more pain. "I want you to picture yourself, after a long day." Cyrus continued. "You feel tired and all you want is to go to sleep, for the embrace of the night to just melt your troubles away. But, as you close your eyes, you wake up, somewhere else, somewhere even darker and even worse than where you wanted to escape from. A nightmare. So, you wake up, screaming and covered in sweat in the middle of the night, every night, three nights in a row, like clockwork until your body finally just gives up and lets you sleep."

"Cyrus." Spyro called, he felt like he had heard enough. He didn't want to hear this anymore, he never thought anyone could be hurt so much and survive. "Please… I'm-"

"Not done!" Cyrus interrupted loudly, his eyes tearing up from the trauma of remembering. "You wanted to know what it felt like!" He shouted. "You kept saying you wanted to help me!" He cried, looking at Spyro rage and sorrow in his voice. "So, _help me!_ "

That was enough. Spyro had just had enough. He couldn't hold it down anymore. Spyro ran through the room, charging at Cyrus who was taken by surprise by the unexpected movement.

Spyro then was just a few inches away from Cyrus, who had still not reacted to Spyro's sudden charge. He was planning on ending this. So, with a quick motion, Spyro took advantage of the indigo dragon's surprise to extend his arms wide and suddenly wrap them around Cyrus back.

Spyro then pressed his forehead against Cyrus' shoulder and closed his eyes, tightening his arms' hold on Cyrus just ever so slightly, embracing him in a hug.

Spyro noticed that Cyrus had stayed perfectly still, perfectly silent for a moment, then another and another, as if he didn't understand what Spyro was doing.

"Wh-What are you doing?" Cyrus asked in a weak voice, still not moving an inch.

"I'm hugging you, man." Spyro answered in a warm voice, tightening his hold just a tiny bit more, afraid to accidentally overwhelm Cyrus.

Then, another moment passed and another before Cyrus spoke again. "Why… Why d-doesn't it h-hurt?" He asked genuinely, his shaky voice mirroring his confusion.

Spyro could feel himself tear up, he couldn't hold back anymore. He pulled Cyrus into a tight hug and let his tears stream down his eyes and fall on Cyrus' shoulder. "Because you are my brother." Spyro answered in a brittle voice. "You might be a sarcastic, apathetic jerk." He said, making both dragons give out a small, sad chuckle. "But you're my family." Spyro continued. "I'm not going to hurt you. And I promise I won't let you get hurt like this anymore." He swore, meaning every word as he cried on his brother's shoulder.

"You... promise?" Cyrus asked, almost sounding more like a plea rather than a question, pronouncing the words awkwardly, as if he didn't know how to react to what Spyro was saying.

"I promise." Spyro answered softly, putting his heart into that promise.

Then, Spyro felt something strange. He felt like Cyrus began to move and for a second, he was afraid Cyrus would pull away from the hug, unwilling to cooperate. But to Spyro's pleasant surprise, Cyrus was moving his arms, which Spyro then felt run up his back and apply pressure, followed by Cyrus' head actually resting on his shoulder. He was hugging back, hugging back tightly.

"I've spent so long looking for my family." Spyro began. "And you're it, man. You are my brother, you're my family."

"I'm… your family?" Cyrus asked genuinely, in a brittle voice like Spyro's.

"Yeah you are." Spyro answer honestly, still hugging his brother tightly. "Yeah you are."

* * *

Stealth Elf kept her eyes on Omen. She was trying to decide if the strange villian was crazy, foolish or both. However strong Omen might be, there was no doubt in Stealth Elf's mind that, accompanied by her fellow Skylanders, they could defeat the vile enemy in front of them.

"What's so funny trash man?" Roller Brawl snapped suddenly beside Stealth Elf. "You really think you can just beat all of us?"

"I mean." Omen began. "How old are you all anyway?" He asked giggling as he looked at the Skylanders around him.

"Old enouht to kick your but!" Sprocket said boldly, holding her huge wrench tightly.

"Hah! You didn't even say that with the right words!" Omen laughed. "You guys are all like twelve!" He said mockingly.

"That's enough!" Stealth Elf shouted, her hate for the surreal villian manifesting in her voice. "You made a mistake coming here and now you're either going to give up and come willingly to Cloudcracker Prison, or we'll just have to take you there by force."

Omen did not look very impressed. He looked at Stealth Elf with his purple eyes, unmoving and completely silent. "You know?" Omen began suddenly. "You're a bit disappointing in person." He said, making Stealth Elf twitch. "She told me... You were going to surpass her." Omen continued, making Stealth Elf grip her daggers so tight, her hands were getting pale as she figured out who _she_ was.

"She told me: _Stealth Elf will grow to be the greatest ninja. She will carry on my legend and defeat you."_ Omen quoted in a shriek voice, as if he was trying to impersonate Ninjini. "But, I mean, you're a little bit scrawny for _"The Great"_ to fit, aren't you?" He said, doing a picture frame with his mismatching hands and pointing it at Stealth Elf.

Stealth Elf felt like her blood began to boil with anger. She had had it with these villains disrespecting Ninjini's legacy. The genie had put all her trust on Stealth Elf, to the point where she sacrificed herself for her. She wasn't about to let some low-life trash man disgrace her memory.

So, Stealth Elf used what Ninjini had taught her. "Be the ninja." She whispered to herself, getting ready to teach Omen a lesson. "Be the ninja!" She repeated as the world around her moved in slow motion.

Stealth Elf saw as Omen stood in his place, the dark smoke from his cage-like head dispersing much slower than usual, signaling her power had indeed taken effect. So with a deep breath Stealth Elf focused and with a flash of green mist, she teleported toward Omen and readied to kick Omen's cage-like head right off. So, she got in position and gave a swift jump due to the height difference between her and Omen. Once in the air, she tensed her right leg and was about to connect her kick.

But then, Stealth Elf felt something unexpected. She felt as a powerful hand caught her leg midway through her kick, stopping her attack in its tracks. Then, Stealth Elf exclaimed in pain as Omen's new metallic hand tightened like a vice around her leg, the sharp metal finger fingers cutting through her leather boot and burrowing in her flesh.

Stealth Elf had forgotten how fast Omen really was. He had been able to keep up with and even overwhelm Ninjini after all. Then, Stealth Elf felt as Omen's second hand roughly tighten around her neck, stopping the air from reaching her lungs. The pain and shokc made Stealth Elf's power wear off and the world began to move normally once again.

The whole exchange happened so quickly, that to the rest of the Skylanders it seemed to happen over in an instant, and the outcome was something that made them gasp in shock.

Stealth Elf was hanging in midair, held from the neck by Omen's wooden hand.

Stealth Elf tried to look at Omen,l lowering her chin to face him. The villain's eyes were expressing what seemed like smug joy. They were curled upward and looking at Stealth Elf mockingly.

"Ahhh, twelve year-olds are so easy." Omen joked degradingly.

Stealth Elf hadn't thought this through, she had allowed her emotions to get the better of her, just as they had done when Cyrus had baited her the same way. As shame and regret clawed at her heart, Stealth Elf felt like she was being moved through the air at great speeds. The last thing Stealth Elf felt, was the ground rise to embrace her from behind.

* * *

"Stealth Elf!" Sprocket cried helplessly as she saw her fellow Skylander be brutally slammed into the ground by Omen.

The villian slowly let go of the fallen elf, and turned to face the rest of the Skylanders. "One down." He said. "Ten to go!"

Then, Sprocket saw as Omen stretched out his stranger arm, which had three different color strings connected to a strange metallic vice with six fingers. Then, the whole thing began shaking disturbingly before splitting up into three smaller arms, each made of one of the three strings and connected to what now looked like small metallic pincers.

Then, each of those smaller arms drew a purple ring on the air in front of them, creating a strange black circle in the middle of the air. They all then reached inside the cricle they each had drawn, disappearing into thin air while still connected to Omen's metallic shoulder.

"Guys, stay on guard!" Sprocket heard Cynder yell. "He's gonna try to-"

"What's going on out here!?" Jet-Vac's voice suddenly demanded.

Sprocket turned her head to the Academy main entrance, from where Jet-Vac, Eruptor and Pop Fizz had suddenly walked through. They all looked rather confused at what was going on. Sprocket was about to warn them about Omen but, out of the corner of her eye, she saw as a black circle appeared out of thin air beside her. Then, a metallic pincer erupted with incredible speed from the darkness. Sprocket was too distracted from Jet-Vac and the other's entrance to react in time and so, she felt at the metallic pincer tightly clutched her neck and pulled her into the darkness from which it emerged.

As Sprocket felt herself be pulled through the air, she noticed that as she crossed the dark circle, she suddenly was somewhere else that where she originally was. Disoriented, Sprocket frantically looked around, trying to get her bearings. but before she could, she felt as two impacts crashed against her back. She turned her head to see Roller Brawl and Chill side to side, behind her, both Skylanders being held by the neck similarly to Sprocket herself.

Then, Sprocket felt as something began to tie itself around her waist. She looked down to see the thick red string from Omen's second arm surround her and her fellow Skylanders. Instinctively, she tried to squirm and wiggle free, but the string was unyielding and despite her fellow Skylanders joining her, they were all unable to escape.

But then, Sprocket heard as a low, static hum began to emerge from the string. As the humming got louder, the red string began to glow an intense yellow color. Then, Sprocket felt like she was hit by lightning. She screamed in agony as a massive electrical discharge was released from the arm holding her in place.

* * *

"Guys!" Jet-Vac cried helplessly.

The senior Skylander had watched in horror as Omen pulled Sprocket, Chill and Roller Brawl through small portals in the air, using a strange new arm. Once he had them all converged, the villian had tied them all together and used the same electric discharge he had previously used against Ninjini. Jet-Vac could do nothing while he saw his friends scream in pain, only to be dropped to the ground by Omen, smoking and unconscious.

"Alright!" Omen's voice suddenly sounded. "Four down, seven to go!" He said cheerfuly.

"Jet-Vac watch out!" Someone warned.

Jet-Vac reacted in time. He ducked, covering his nape and closing his eyes. Then, Jet-Vac heard as something crashed violently against the bricks from the Academy walls. He opened his eyes and looked up to see what had happened. Once he did, Jet-Vac felt really grateful for ducking on time.

Omen had launched his wooden hand at him but missed. And now, as Omen retracted his red strung arm, Jet-Vac understood what was going on.

"He's here for you." Jet-Vac told Cynder. "So I believe it's best that you leave, Cynder." He said, not taking his eyes of Omen.

"I'm not leaving!" Cynder stated with finality. "I can't have you guys to fight him alone!"

"Great!" Omen's disembodied voice sounded through the air. "That just makes things that much easier for me!" He said, laughing malevolently before a high pitched humming began to come from one of his arms.

Then, the red string on Omen's arm began to glow an intense cyan as Omen's wooden chest split away from his waist, which hug stationary beneath him. Then, as a horrible deja-vu hit Jet-Vac, remembering this particular move, he shouted at the top of his lungs, just as Omen's chest began to slowly spin faster and faster.

"Everyone! Look out!" Jet-Vac warned everyone as Omen's glowing arm stretched out and began slicing through everything in its path.

Thanks to Jet-Vac's warning, everyone, including himself, managed to duck or jump over the incoming attack as it cut through the metallic lamp posts, green bushes and other ornaments in the Academy courtyard as Omen's chest spun in circles, the glowing arm following behind.

After a couple of spins, Omen slowed down and retracted his arm, that was now returning to its regular red color. "Man, you guys seem very good at Limbo!" Omen laughed as he looked around at the Skylanders.

"Stop underestimating us!" Cynder yelled, getting up from beside Jet-Vac and taking flight above Omen and the rest of the Skylanders.

Then, Jet-Vac saw as Cynder's wingtips began to glow an intense white as the dragoness seemed to take a deep breath. Then, with a thundering sound, blue lighting erupted from Cynder's mouth as the dragoness released her full might against Omen.

For a second Jet-Vac felt a little hope crawl into his heart as Cynder's attack connected with Omen and the villian groaned in pain and raised his arms in defence. But then, Jet-Vac focused on Omen's arms, and that little hope in him vanished. The villain's wooden hand was glowing with a sinister purple aura as it blocked Cynder's lightning.

Jet-Vac remembered that something like this had happened before. When Eruptor had attacked Omen, the villian had held the Skylander's projectile in his wooden hand when it glowed that eerie purple, only to redirect it with greater power.

"Cynder, stop!" Jet-Vac shouted at his friend above him.

Cynder must have either tired out or heard Jet-Vac, since she did stop her attack. But as Jet-Vac lowered his head to look at Omen, he realized with dread that, it was already too late.

In his wooden hand, Omen held what looked like a miniature thunderstorm. Blue lightning crackled in the villain's hand and a low electric sizzling could be heard emanating from it. Jet-Vac noticed that the lightning was slowly changing color from blue to red in Omen's hand. As Omen looked at his hand with wide eyes he spoke with an impressed voice.

"Wow! Thanks, undead girl!" Omen said in a jolly voice. Then, Omen extended his hand and a massive stream of lightning, almost twice as large as Cynder's original blast and glowing with an unnatural red light, erupted from his hand.

The enormous chain of lightning was aimed directly at Cynder, who desperately tired to dive out of the way, narrowly succeeding as the attack instead crashed against one of the Academy towers. As the impact collided with tower's brick wall, a huge explosion of dust and light erupted, blowing away that entire part of the tower and revealing the room inside.

"You could have killed her!" Jet-Vac roared . He would have never forgiven Omen for taking one of his friends away.

"Oh relax, Captan Caring." Omen began in a casual voice. "I know necromancy, I could have brought her right back." Omen paused. "But it would have been a little inconvienet for her to be a zombie. Can Undead things revive as zombies? They're already undead aren't they?" Omen pondered deeply.

"That's _it_!" Eruptor shouted suddenly form beside Jet-Vac. "I've had it with you, you monster! Everyone! We need to light him up at the same time! He can't handle all of us!" He said, raising his arms and readying his attack.

"Well said lad!" Jet-Vac said, getting up and taking aim at Omen. "That way, he can't redirect our attacks or hit us with his own, since they leave him vulnerable!" Jet-Vac explained, remembering his previous fights with the villian and noticing a few weaknesses in his formidable power.

"He's right!" Hex shouted. "We need to hit him all at once!"

"Yeah! He really has to feel this!" Skull agreed.

"Everyone!" Jet-Vac began, noticing his fellow Skylander's eagerness equaled his own. "Let him have it!" He shouted as he fired his vac gun at the surreal villain's head.

Then, with surprising coordination to Jet-Vac's command, every Skylander in the area released their own unique attacks, raining them down on Omen, who rattled and yelped as each projectile impacted against his abstract body.

Omen was struck by air blasts, exploding potions, firebolts, lightning, crystalline projectiles, flaming cannonballs and more as the Skylanders furious assault continued.

"We're overwhelming him!" Ka-Boom howled with a low chuckle. "That's what you get from messing with us punk!"

"Yeah! You are never going to hurt our friends again!" Bad breath followed up.

"No one can beat us if we work together!" Eruptor added confidently.

"And _you_ are no exception." Jet-Vac finished with an bold voice.

At that, the Skylanders stopped their attack. They all stayed on guard, not intending on underestimating the villian in front of them.

"Everyone, stay back and stay sharp." Jet-Vac warned as he tried to find Omen's fallen figure. "He could still be dangerous." He said as he aimed his vac gun at the pile of strange trash he spotted.

At the center of a large crater, created from the Skylander's assault, layed a smoking pile of garbage that resembled Omen's body parts. Jet-Vac noticed that the trash was staying completely still, and that the cylindrical cage among the rest of the strange items, was not releasing smoke as it did whenever Omen was conscious.

"Did we get him?" Flashwing asked nervously as she stepped a little closer to the fallen villian.

"I mean." Wind Up began to speak slowly. "No one could have walked that off, r-right?"

"I don't know." Hex began. "That guy was something else. I don't remember ever fighting someone like that."

"Well, what matters is that we beat him." Ka-Boom stated boldly. "He looks pretty knocked out to me."

"What in the Underworld's deepest pits was all of that!?" An angry but familiar voice demanded from behind Jet-Vac. "And what happened to the Academy!?"

The senior Skylander turned around to see Kaossandra at the gates of the Academy, a furious look on her face.

"We had a little bit of a skirmish out here." Jet-Vac said simply. "Long story. But, we have good news." He said, a little bit of excitement seeping into his voice. "We caught him, Headmistress, we caught Omen!"

When Jet-Vac spoke, Kaossandra's eyes went round and her jaw went limp. "You caught Omen? The leader of the Knights of Solitude?" She asked slowly, as if she didn't believe the words as they came out of her mouth.

"We did." Jet-Vac said. "All of us-" He gestured at the Skylanders. "Together."

Kaossandra remained paralyzed for a second, her eyes looking at the Skylanders with pride. Then, she composed herself and spoke in a heightened voice. "I'll call Cloudcracker Prison. Tell then to bring the strongest cage and shackles they have!" She announced before turning around and rushing into the Academy

Jet-Vac then sighed with relief at the thought of this mess finally resolving. He turned around and looked at Omen's fallen body. He wasn't about to let his guard down, but he still wanted to believe that all this mess could finally be over. But then, something nagged at his conscience from one of the corners of his mind. "We should see if the others are alright first!" Jet-Vac stated.

"You're right!" Eruptor agreed, his face suddenly lighting up as he began to look around the scene. "Elf!? Elf!? Where are you!?" He called.

"We need to take everyone else to the nursery." Cynder suggested as she landed beside Jet-Vac, a guilty look on her face. "This was too close a call."

Jet-Vac knew that look. He knew what Cynder was thinking. "This isn't your fault Cynder." He said comfortingly. "If anything, it's this monster's fault this whole mess is even happening."

"But he came here for me." Cynder said, looking down at her paws. "If I wasn't here, he wouldn't have come to the Academy in the first place"

"He can't track you." Jet-Vac began. "I bet he came here on a hunch that you'd be here. If you hadn't been here, if he didn't find what he was looking for…" Jet-Vac continued, putting his hand on Cynder's shoulder. "He would have killed everyone without a second thought. If anything, you being here actually helped our situation, don't you think?" He said in a merry voice, finally getting a small smile out of Cynder.

"You good guys…" A sourceless whisper began. It felt like it was coming right from behind Jet-Vac's neck, making him get horrible goosebumps. "Are so…" The voice continued, slowly growing louder. " _Saaappyyyy_!" The voice suddenly roared, so loud and with a metallic resonance so horrible, like microphone feedback, that Jet-Vac slumped to his knees and howled in pain.

The senior Skylander noticed that everyone else in the vicinity had done the same thing as him, clutching their ears tightly and falling to their knees or bending over in pain. The hideous sound had seemed to come from thin air, but Jet-Vac knew all too well what was going on. They had all let their guard down.

From the pile of garbage in front of Jet-Vac, three metallic pincers, connected to a green, a purple and an orange string respectively, flew through the air, shooting up to the skies above the Academy courtyard. After they reached a certain height, the pincers stayed still for a second and then began to move through the air, each one spinning clockwise, leaving a glowing purple line behind them as they moved.

When the three pincers traced a massive ring in the air, several meters across and wide enough for a Fire Viper to stick their head through, they all retracted with great speed to the still unmoving pile of trash from where they rose.

Then, Jet-Vac looked up, imitated by his fellow Skylanders, at the purple ring of light in the sky. He noticed that several runes, the same color as the ring started to appear around the rim of the purple shape. Then, the air inside to the ring, became dark, darker than night, absorbing all the light of the sun that fell upon it.

"Guuuys?" Pop Fizz began nervously, as he took a couple of steps back from where he was standing, a very uneasy look on his face. "What is _that_?"

Then, from the darkness of the massive circle, a strange sound, like several pulleys began to resonate, louder and louder, closer and closer. And then, with no warning, from the featureless surface of the dark circle above them, a swarm of dismembered hands, strung up by strange and colorful strings rained down on the Skylanders.

* * *

Cynder had seconds to react. She boosted herself off the ground with her wings and tried her best to avoid the barrage of terrifying hands that were flying through the air, trying to grab her and her friends.

Cynder noticed that most of them were roughly similar to Omen's hands and that they all seemed to come in pairs. There were a couple that had a deep blue string behind them. The hands themselves seemed to be made of a coppery metal, and yellow sparks crackled from their fingertips. There were others, that had a dark brown sting behind them. Those hands and four fingers, that all put together, looked like a short silver sword. Those and many other pairs, each a different color and shape, with what seemed to be a different power or ability, flew through the air, chasing Cynder or mercilessly attacking the Skylanders.

Cynder dove and rose, stired and spun in the air, using every trick she could think of to avoid the disembodied limbs close behind her. But as she flew through the air, she could feel herself ge tired, and no such sensation seemed to be reaching the disembodied hands.

Cynder then heard the sound of pained groans and screams come from beneath her. Concerned, she then used her Shadow Dash to avoid getting caught by the grasping hands behind her. They all shot right through her misty figure as she turned around and moved out of the way, solidifying once she was out of danger. She looked down to see her friends, all struggling to fight against the many hands.

Cynder saw as a pair of silver hands, much larger than the rest and that were strung up by thick grey chains rather than strings, were punching Ka-Boom, sending the muscular Skylander sprawling back after each blow. She then saw as the coppery hands she had spotted earlier, grabbed Wind Up by the arms and glowed a bright yellow, releasing a massive electric shock that knocked the Skylander out cold. Meanwhile, a pair of white gloves, strung up by a rather innocent-looking pink ribbon lace, were being attacked by Eruptor and Jet-Vac. But as the two Skylanders fired their projectiles at the white gloves, the limbs simply snapped their fingers and with a flash of white light, the projectiles the Skylanders had fired that were caught in the white flash, had simply disappeared, leaving the two Skylanders confused as the white gloves inched closer and closer to them.

"There's no way we can beat him like this." Cynder whispered helplessly as she looked at her fellow Skylanders be stuck down with impunity by Omen's many disembodied limbs.

Then, Cynder watched as a new pair of hands flew up at her. The hands were a pale purple color and seemed to be made of a smooth, plastic-like substance. The string behind them was a black color that was almost as dark as from the abyss they had emerged from.

Cynder then turned into dark mist, using her Shadow Dash to avoid the incoming attack. But as the purple hands reached her misty figure, instead of going through her like the others had done, they instead managed to grab her by the shoulders with a steady iron grip. Cynder tried to squirm free, but it was no use. Even in her misty state, she was somehow unable to escape.

So she solidified, and then released her spectral lightning on the black string connected to the hands. As her lightning connected to the black stings, it dispersed harmlessly, leaving no damage on them. Desperate and confused, Cynder then tried to use her claws to cut the strings off. To her surprise, the two strings gave in rather easily to her sharp claws and when they were cut, the purple hands holding Cynder went limp, and dropped off her shoulders.

"Omen!" Cynder called at the top of her lungs. When she did, the many hands in the air, attacking her friends and chasing her came to a sudden stop, floating idly in the air and giveing her and her friends a small breather.

"Yeeeesss?" Omen's metallic, disembodied voice asked wryly.

"Please, leave them alone." Cynder begged, looking at how beaten and tired her friends were. "Just take me and let them go."

"Cynder, what are you doing!?" Hex asked, desperately from beneath Cynder.

"Again with the racket!?" Kaossandra's voice sounded from behind Cynder, making her look behind her.

Kaossandra was staining in front of the Academy main gates, contemplating the horrifying scene with wide eyes and mouth agape. "What is going on?" She asked in a weak voice.

"We're having a little talk." Omen's voice answered stridently. "Ta-ta!" It said as all the hands behind Cynder waved Kaossandra away.

Then, with no warning, a small dark portal opened above Kaossandra. As the sorceress looked up, Cynder heard as a shriek, terrified scream got louder and louder, emanating from the portal's mouth. Then, faster than Cynder could properly see, a large green ball dropped from the portal above Kaossandra, knocking her to the ground. Upon closer inspection, Cynder noticed the green ball that had crashed on Kaossandra was none other than Food Fight, who Omen had prevoiulsy thrown through one of his portals. The Skylander's violent crashlanding had knocked him and Kaossandra out cold.

"Now then!" Omen's voice picked up. "You were saying something about coming willingly?"

At that, Cynder notice that the pile of trash that had remained motionless until then, had started to shake and it's pieces began to float in the air, assembling the abstract humanoid shape that was Omen's body. When the cylindrical cage slammed onto the villain's yellow wooden chest, disgusting purple ooze sealed it on. Then, dark smoke erupted from the base of the cage, followed by the villain's glowing purple eyes.

Cynder took a look at her friends. There was no doubt in Cynder's mind that if she didn't do what Omen wanted, he would kill them. So, she swallowed hard and closed her eyes. "If I come with you… will you spare my friends?" She asked.

"Hmmm…"Omen began, putting his wooden hand on what would have been his chin. "You kids _are_ a lot tougher than I expected. _And_ it would be a shame for me to lose any more of my precious hands." Omen continued, moving his eyes around, as he was in deep thought. "Alright! I'm sold! I'm not one to turn down an easy win."

"Cynder don't do it!" Bad Breath shouted from below her. "He's a bad guy! You can't trust him!"

"Hey!" Omen yelled, in a seeming a genuinely hurt. "Just cuz I'm a bad guy doesn't mean I'm a liar!" He stated in an undignified voice. "You know what? I was going to kick you all around a little more, but now? Just because of that, I'm gonna keep all of you untouched, just to prove you wrong, Puke-Wart!" Omen spat, still undignified, but making Bad Breath give a low whimper from Omen's cruel insult.

"Okay, then." Cynder began, landing close to Omen, turning her back to her friends. "I'll come with you." She said, hanging her head low.

"Awww." Omen began in a mocking tone. "You're so sweet." He said, lifting Cynder's chin with his wooden hand, making her growl and nudge it off. "Alrighty then. Before we leave-" He paused, snapping his wooden hand's fingers, which caused all the other hands and stings to return back into the dark abyss from where they came. When all the hands crossed the dark circle, the massive dark shape shrunk rapidly and disappeared. "-I need to leave a message." Omen picked up, a malevolent edge in his voice.

* * *

Cyrus had could not remember ever feeling something like what he was feeling right now. Every time he was touched by someone, it was painful, unpleasant. But this, this felt completely different. It was a soft touch, warming and gentle. The contact and pressure made Cyrus feel relaxed and get a fuzzy feeling inside.

"We should probably stop now." Spyro said, chuckling awkwardly. "It's getting a bit weird, right?"

"Uhh, yeah, it _is_ getting a bit weird." Cyrus agreed. "Get off me." He said rather gently as he slowly let go of his brother.

"Alright!" Spyro began, an excited look on his face. "We need to go to the Academy!"

"Woah, there buddy." Cyrus said, raising his paws to stop Spyro. "Go to the Academy? When did I finish my inscription?" He asked sarcastically.

"Dude, you were Omen's right hand man!" Spyro said cheerfully. "You know all of his plans! You can help us beat him!"

Cyrus then caught up with his brother. "Yes, yes I can!" Cyrus said, his face brightening up. "But… I doubt your friends will want my help." Cyrus said in a down tone, remembering their... previous interactions.

"They'll get over it." Spyro said simply. "Once they hear you are willing to help, they put their grudges aside."

"Are you sure?" Cyrus questioned. "I've done quite a lot to them. How are you so sure they'll forgive me?"

"I didn't say they'd forgive you." Spyro said, confusing Cyrus. Then, Spyro put his paw on Cyrus shoulder, comfortingly. "The fact is: all of us want Omen dealt with, because he is the one trully responsible for this whole mess." Spyro stated, not doubting his words. "So, with that common goal in mind, and a little bit of effort, we can work together to beat him. We all just need to try." He said determinately.

Cyrus felt a small smile tug at his lips. "Alright then." He said, giving Spyro a small nod. "But…" He cut himself off. "How are we going to get out of here? Me being a criminal and all."

"Oh don't worry about that." Spyro said with a cocky smile as he turned around, facing a specific spot in the large room. "Thanks to an old… _friend_ of mine." Spyro said the word "friend" in a way that made Cyrus think the exact opposite. "I know a way out of this little dump." He said as he walked over to one of the walls in the room.

Cyrus followed Spyro closely and when he came to a sudden stop, so did he. The two dragons were now looking at a what looked like a camouflaged drain hatch.

"Someone used this to escape from here a long time ago." Spyro stated as he tried to open the hatch. "We can use it ourselves to get out just fine."

"Nice." Cyrus said as Spyro opened the hatch and revealed a dark tunnel for them to escape from.

"Hey." Spyro called suddenly. "We can do this." He said, slowly stretching out his paw and making a fist, inviting Cyrus for a fist bump.

Slowly, Cyrus imitated Spyro's movement, punching the Skylander's fist gently. "Let's go." He said, getting a small nod from Spyro before the purple dragon dove down the dark tunnel, inciting Cyrus to follow behind.

* * *

As Spyro reached the end of the tunnel, Cyrus following close behind him, he could see the bright blue sky out of the tunnel's circular mouth. Then, Spyro felt the wind suddenly press against his scales. It felt liberating as always.

"Where to now?" Cyrus asked suddenly as he caught up to Spyro.

"The Academy is a little far away from here." Spyro began. looking around to find his heading. "It's over this way." He said, pointing in front of him before using his wings to fly as quickly as he could through the sky.

Then, something nagged at Spyro's mind. "Hey, Cyrus?" He called, slowing his flight. He had gotten a little caught up with himself to pay mind to Cyrus. But, as Spyro turned his head, he saw as Cyrus' indigo scales flashed beside him, creating a small draft from how fast he was flying.

"C'mon, slowpoke!" Cyrus said in a prideful tone. "You're the one who knows where we're going."

"Slowpoke?" Spyro repeated incredulous. "You want a race or something, buddy?" Spyro challenged with a wide smile as he picked up his pace, flying past Cyrus.

Spyro then saw Cyrus chase after him, both dragons speeding through the sky, leaving behind clouds and isles as they raced each other to the Academy. Spyro couldn't help but let out a joyful laugh. He was flying through the Skylands with his brother, something he never knew he wanted to do so much. He closed his eyes, enjoying the wind blowing under his wings and the sound of his brother's wingbeat beside him.

"Heeeyy Spyyyyglaaassss!" A hideous, disembodied voice resonated through the air.

Spyro was suddenly snapped out of his little moment of peace by Omen's horrible voice. Spyro frantically looked around him, trying to find the surreal-looking villian. After taking a look to his left, Spyro saw a small mabu village. The whole village seemed to be gathered on the streets, looking at something above them.

"That's _his_ voice." Cyrus stated as he looked at the mabu village.

"Let's go." Spyro said, a bad feeling crawling up his spine.

As the two dragons flew over to the mabu village, staying airborne above the crowd to get a better view, they scanned the area for any signs of Omen. After only a few seconds of looking, they were faced with their answer. A large rectangular projection, rimmed by purple flames hovered above the mabu crowd. On this projection was the face of Spyro's least favorite trash man.

"Spyyyyyglaaasss? Where are ya buddy?" Omen called through the projection screen.

"Wrong number." A male mabu shouted from below Spyro.

"It's _still_ not an app Gary, you _still_ can't can't slide it away." A female voice spoke angrily.

"Who's Spyglass?" Spyro asked Cyrus in a quiet tone.

"That's his nickname for you." Cyrus responded.

"Oh…" Spyro said simply, a new level of disdain for Omen brewing in his heart.

"Heya buddy! Its ya boi, Omeeen!" Omen's voice picked up suddenly, making jazz hands with his strange, now mismatching appendages. "I hope you get this message, cuz… let's just say, it concerns you." He said sinisterly.

Spyro began to get a really bad feeling from the strange situation, but listened in eagerly.

"But, before I get to that." Omen picked up. "I would just like to say that your Academy is a fantastic place! The installations are great, the teachers are so qualified and the students are so welcoming!" When, Omen finished speaking, the image on the projection panned to the right, away from Omen's face, showing an image that made Spyro's stomach drop.

The Academy was battered and damaged. The walls were all bagged up, the lamps, bush hedges, and decor before the main gates were sliced in half and sizzling and one of the towers on the Academy was blown halfway to the Underworld. But what really made Spyro really worry, was the sight of his friends. Some of them were all beaten up, black eyes, deep cuts and burn marks all over them. But they were lucky. Spyro noticed that several Skylanders were unconscious and on the ground. He could see Sprocket, Chill and Roller Brawl all piled up near each other, but something told Spyro there could be more victims.

Then, the image panned back to Omen, who resumed speaking. "Now then, to the important stuff." He picked up. "I have someone here who would like to talk to you!" He said, as the projection panned to the left revealing who Omen was talking about. "Spoilers, they aren't actually going to talk to you."

The image made Spyro react. "Cynder!" He cried, his voice heightened by concern as he saw his friend being lifted off the ground by the back of the neck. She looked physically alright, which made Spyro feel slightly relieved, but she had her head low and hung limply from Omen's grip. Spyro felt himself start shaking, his heartbeat rising steadily.

"That's right! I now have seven out of my eight dragons!" Omen announced proudly. "Now, my mutated purple alligator of a friend-" Omen continued, making Spyro frown. "At the risk of sounding cliché." Omen began, as the projection panned to him once again. "I'll lay it down like it is. Come meet me, _alone_!" He entonated. "At Breathless Hollow by the end of the day, oooor…" He said, as the projection panned toward Cynder once again. " _This-_ " Omen said, as he lifted Cynder's head to the screen her eyes were closed and her mouth was limp. She was unconscious. "-Will be the prettiest, your friend's face is going to be!" He threatened as the screen panned back to his face one last time. "Now, then. Are we ready to end this little game of ours boy?" He asked, leaning into the screen. "Come meet me, and we'll both know your answer."

And with that, Omen's projection dispersed with a flash of light. Leaving a shocked silence among the mabu crowd.

Spyro was breathing hard, his heart and mind were racing faster than he ever remembered. _"He's got Cynder."_ Spyro told himself, dread clawing at his heart.

"We need to go." Cyrus stated beside Spyro. "Spyro, we need to go now."

"He has Cynder." Syro repeated hopelessly, realising what that meant. This could very well have been the last time he could see her face. And the last time he saw her beautiful blue eyes was when they were looking at him like he was another person. He felt horrible, he felt like he wanted to throw up.

"He won't hurt her." Cyrus said, as he grabbed Spyro's shoulders and turned Spyro toward him. "He needs her alive and as lively as possible for his ritual. She'll be fine." He said not stuttering once and looking at Spyro directly. "What we need to do is get the the Knights of Solitude." Cyrus explained. "If we take away his other dragons, he won't be able to complete his plan."

"But how will we find them?" Spyro asked confused. "We don't know where they are."

"You said it yourself." Cyrus replied with a small smirk. "I was Omen's right hand man. I know where his base is and hence, where the Knights and Cynder will be. I can take you there and we can take him by surprise."

Slowly running what Cyrus was saying through his mind, Spyro spoke slowly. "Alright, that sounds like a plan." Spyro supposed that if anyone knew what Omen would do to next and how to act upon it, it was Cyrus. And realizing that just worrying about Cynder wouldn't help anyone, Spyro began to calm down. "Okay, okay. I'm fine, let's get going." Spyro said, composing himself.

At that, Cyrus let go of him and gave him a reassuring nod, which Spyro returned before both dragons took flight toward the Academy.

Spyro flew fast, faster than he ever flew. He flew as fast as his wings let him. His heart raced as the wind blowed against his face. He wasn't going to let Cynder be taken away and be used as a battery by some maniac, he just wasn't going to let it happen.

" _I'm sorry. I'm coming."_ Spyro said as the image of Cynder appeared in his mind. Her gentle smile, her beautiful eyes, like a clear sky and the warmth of her scales against his, he missed them all so dearly he could feel his heart ache.

" _Cynder… just wait for me."_

* * *

Kaossandra groaned. She had a horrible headache and couldn't see a thing. She felt the cold stone floor of the Academy beneath her and what felt like a heavy ball on top of her.

"Are you alright Kaossandra?" The sorceress could hear someone ask concerned. She felt as the big ball on top of her was gently lifted off.

"I'll be fine." Kaossandra groaned again as she tried to get up. "What happened?" She asked as she rubbed her head, still keeping her eyes shut.

No answer came for a moment, but then a voice that Kaossandra recognised as Eruptor's answered. "Omen happend." He said. "He defeated us and… he took Cynder."

"What!?" Kaossandra shouted, flinging her eyes open and standing up suddenly. "What do you mean he took her!?"

"She gave herself up to convince Omen not to hurt us." Pop Fizz, who was standing beside Eruptor and Jet-Vac in front of Kaossandra, explained with a down tone.

"Does anyone know where he took her!?" Kaossandra demanded desperately, dread building up in her heart as the realisation came to her. Omen was now a single dragon away from what being able to begin his ritual. And that dragon was having an existential crisis with his villainous brother.

"Before he left." Jet-Vac began. "Omen projected a message across the Skylands. He told Spyro to meet him in some place called Breathless Hollow." Jet-Vac stated. "Have you ever heard of that place?"

"I have." Kaossandra replied. "If he wants Spyro there it's certainly for a trap."

"But Omen has Cynder!" Eruptor shouted. "If Spyro doesn't go, that monster is going to hurt her! But, if he _does_ go, then we could lose both our friends!"

"Then it's a good thing I'm not going there at all!" A new voice said from above Kaossandra.

The voice made the Skylanders in front of Kaossandra turn around and look up to find it's source. As a purple shape flew with great speed toward the Academy, the Skylanders couldn't help but call their friend's name.

"Spyro!" They all waved, some jumping up and calling the purple dragon's name again.

Then, Kaossandra noticed something. Someone was following Spyro closely, they looked like another dragon. When the the two dragons got close enough, she was able to discern who both of them were. The first was indeed Spyro, the purple dragon waved back at his friends as he approached. The second was someone Kaossandra had only heard of, but his purple scales left no room to wander. Cyrus was following Spyro closely. How that villian had escaped Cloudcracker Prison was beyond her, but she would fix that soon enough.

Calling forth her dark magic, Kaossandra raised her arms and released a chain of purple lightning at Cyrus. As the lightning crossed the air she saw as the indigo dragon reacted, trying to move to the side in order to dodge.

"No!" Spyro's voice howled suddenly. Without warning, Spyro put his wings in front of him and placed himself between Kaossandra's attack and Cyrus. As Kaossandra's attack crashed against Spyro's wings, it dispersed harmlessly off his impenetrable scales. "Everyone, calm down!" Spyro shouted as he landed before the Academy main entrance, Cyrus landing landing behind him.

"Spyro, watch out!" Pop Fizz yelled. "Cyrus is behind you!" He said, pointing at the dragon behind Spyro.

"I know Pop." Spyro said calmly. "Look, we all need to talk." He said

"Talk about what?" Eruptor began. "Talk about how fast we can out that creep back in Cloudcracker Prison?" He questioned.

"Stop calling him that." Spyro snarled suddenly, his arms tensing up and his gaze hardening slightly, making Eruptor flinch.

Then, something snapped into place in Kaossandra's mind. _"They're brothers."_ She remembered suddenly and by the looks on the Skylanders faces so had they.

"Oh right." Pop Fizz began. "You guys are brothers!" He reminded himself. "Does that mean Cyrus is alright now?"

"No! He's not alright!" Eruptor yelled, stepping toward Cyrus. "That guy hurt Spyro, he hurt Elf, and who knows who else! I'm not about to forgive him!" He said, almost face to face with the indigo dragon.

Cyrus however, had his usual, unimpressed expression even as a very angry Skylander was looked down on him. "I'm not here to fight." He said simply. "And if I _wanted_ your forgiveness." He added slowly. "I wouldn't do _this_." At that, the indigo dragon released a miniature burst of green flames that dispersed after escaping a few inches out of his mouth. But that was enough to make Eruptor give out a frightened yelp and stumble back onto his rear, causing Cyrus to give a low, mocking chuckle.

"That's enough!" Spyro roared after the tense exchange. "Look, we all want Omen taken care off, including Cyrus!"

"Are you sure?" Jet-Vac questioned. "Brother or not, how can you be sure he won't backstab us when the time is right?"

"If I wanted to serve Omen." Cyrus interjected. "I wouldn't have brought you your friend here, instead of Breathless Hollow, would I?" He said in an obvious tone, which made Jet-Vac open his mouth to protest, but stop himself before managing to speak, as if thinking the logic of the argument through.

"Suppose we let you help." Kaossandra began, intrigued by the indigo dragon's sudden change of heart while also eager to have such a valuable ally in the fight against Omen. "What could you tell us?"

"Everything you need to know." Cyrus stated simply. "I know where his base is, how many guards he has and how to beat him." The dragon said, not giving any indication that he was lying. "All I need to help you, if for you to _let_ me."

"Well, that would certainly be useful." Kaossandra said, suddenly liking the indigo dragon a little bit more.

"See!" Spyro began, gesturing at his brother. "With his help we'll be able to save Cynder and stop Omen once and for all!"

"I would certainly like that." Kassandra said with a small smile.

"Kaossandra! You can't trust him!" Eruptor said as he got off the ground. "We can't just let all he's done go unpunished!"

"Eruptor, he already told you he wants to help!" Spyro told his friend. "If anyone has to pay for this, it's Omen!"

"Cyrus." Kaossandra called, making the Skylanders quiet down and the indigo dragon lift his head to face her directly. "Do you really intend to help us?" She asked severely, looking at Cyrus' green eyes. As much as it hurt to meet those cold, pained eyes, she did not waver. If she was going to trust this dragon she had to make sure she could look at him in the eye.

"I do." Cyrus answered simply and without a second guess, his eyes warming up slightly after he did.

"Alright then." Kaossandra began. "Then we will let you help." She stated with a sigh. "After all, you all know what they say." She paused before quoting. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." She said, making Spyro smile with relife and Cyrus give her a small bow, surprising Kaossandra with his mannerisms.

"Words to live by, sorceress!" A new voice boomed across the air. It was a voice like fire, gravelly and rough. The voice was followed by a mighty wingbeat that shook the air.

Then, with a thunderous sound, Kaossandra saw as a massive figure landed on the clearing before the Academy, kicking up dust as it landed. As the dust settled and the masive, winged figure was revealed, Kaossandra didn't know how to react. She had not expected this in an hundred years.

"So…" The gravelly voice picked up. "When do we go kill this, _Omen_?" Malefor asked with a wide, malevolent grin.

* * *

 _Author's notes_

 _Alright! Chapter Eleven! Can you all feel it? The end aproaching? Be on the look out for the last two chapters!_

\- I still don't own Skylanders Academy

\- The king is back, baby!


	12. Chapter 12

**Skylanders Academy: New Horizon**

by andresponceb2002

 **Chapter 12) The Last Straw, Part 1**

Cynder groaned from a piercing headache. She held the sides of her head as she tried to get up from the smooth, cold ground beneath her. She slowly opened her eyes as the headache started to pass.

"Where am I?" She wandered as she took a look around her.

Cynder was in a medium sized, circular room. The walls and floor were both made of a smooth, black marmol stone. There were many elegant-looking armchairs, made of brown wood with red cushions around the room's edge. There was one red door, made of carved wood which had a simple silver handle.

"Wherever this is." Cynder picked up. "I need to get out of here." She concluded as she began moving toward the red door.

"Leaving so soooon?" A horrible, disembodied voice asked wryly. "You haven't even greeted your host!"

Cynder then turned around, trying to find where the horrible voice was coming from. When she looked around the circular room, she found it. Sitting back on one of the armchairs in front of her, Omen was staring at her, unmoving. He wasn't there before.

Cynder felt her heartbeat rising and her breath quicken as fear crept into her heart. She slowly took a shaky step back, then another before breaking into a desperate sprint to the red door behind her. However, when Cynder turned around and began trying to reach the red door, she felt a rough wooden hand steadily grab the back of her neck and lift her off the ground.

"Not even a hello? A goodbye?" Omen asked in a mock hurt voice as he turned Cynder to face him. "Come now, where are your manners, young girl?"

"Where am I?" Cynder demanded in as steadily as she could as Omen held her in the air.

"You're in my humble abode!" Omen said simply, lowering his hand so that Cynder could touch down on the ground. However, his hand was still grabbing the back of her neck tightly. "And you are here to help me with a little…" Omen paused and looked to the side, as if he was trying to find the right words.

"Pet project?" Cynder filled in with a scoff, already familiar with the villain's intent.

"Exactly!" Omen exclaimed in a merry voice. "But." Omen paused. "As you know, I still need your purple friend to get it going properly."

"Well, you are out of luck." Cynder began. "You're never going to get him." She said defiantly.

However, Omen's eyes curled up and narrowed. "Are you sure?" Omen asked, slowly emulating a smug smile.

"Yes." Cynder responded quickly. "The Skylanders are going to find you and stop you once and for all."

Omen's eyes remained curled up, still amused. "Oh child." Omen began with a small sigh. "You really haven't learned anything have you?" He asked, making Cynder get small chills. "Your friends can't beat me. Even after all your speeches of _teamwork and friendship_." He spat in a shriek and mocking voice. "I've moped the floor with all of you, time and time again! And do you want to know _why_?" Omen asked loudly, leaning in dangerously close to Cynder, making her shrink and close her eyes.

"Because there was only _one_ person who can kill me." Omen whispered. "And I already killed them." He said, slowly leaning away from Cynder. "Besides." Omen picked up. "Your little friend is already going to give himself up by the end of the day anyway." He said, making Cynder's eyes light up.

" _Spyro…"_ Cynder called in her head, concerned for her friend.

"Anyhoo." Omen picked up, suddenly letting go of Cynder's neck. "I have to leave for my meeting with your friend now." He announced. "There's cookies in the jar-" He said, gesturing to a small white jar beside one of the armchairs Cynder had not noticed."So, just make yourself at home, dearie." He said in a mellow voice. "They're raisin, by the way." Omen stated, seamlessly shifting to a malevolent voice.

Then, Omen began to draw a purple ring in front of him, that turned into one of the villain's portals. He then waved innocently at Cynder before crossing the portal in front of him, which shrank rapidly and disappeared after he did, leaving Cynder alone in the circular room.

The moment Omen vanished, Cynder rushed over to the red door across the room. She tried to tug at the silver handle with her paw, but it didn't move. She then tried to use both her paws, still nothing.

"I don't have time for this!" Cynder cried as she backed up from the door and took a deep breath, causing her wingtips and the mark on her forehead to glow white. Cynder then released a steam of lightning at the red door. But, when the impact hit, Cynder's lightning dispersed harmlessly of it's surface, not leaving even a scratch on it's elegant woodwork.

Cynder then looked at the door hopelessly. She then tried looking around the room, taking flight and inspecting the walls, trying to find anyway to get out of the room. But there was nothing, not even a crack on the smooth, black walls.

Defeated, Cynder landed on the center of the room. With despair clawing at her heart, she laid her head down, resing it on her arms as she curled up and tried her hardest to hold her tears back.

"Spyro… everyone…" She whispered. "Please… don't let him win because of me…" She pleaded with her eyes closed, pictureing her friends as she let out a small tear, which streamed down her cheek and fell to the cold stone floor beneath her.

* * *

"What are you doing here, Malefor!?" Spyro roared at the massive dragon in front of him.

Malefor stood on the clear isle before the Academy main gates. He was looking down at the Skylanders with a simple smile. Spyro was tensed up and his heart was racing. There was a decent number of fallen Skylanders and Spyro wasn't sure of what would happen if Malefor decided to attack.

"I have come here." Malefor began, lowering his head slightly toward the Skylanders. "To… _assist_ you." He hissed and twitched as he said "assist", as if just saying the word hurt him. "Because, from what I can tell-" Malefor picked up, pointing at Cyrus, who was standing beside Spyro. "You have a little bit of _reform program_ now. So, where do I sign up?" He finished with a mischievous smile.

"What makes you think we'd work with you!?" Spyro demanded, not backing down from the dragon king.

"Your incompetence." Malefor deadpanned simply, keeping a perfectly straight face while Spyro's brain stumbled over the dragon kings words.

" _He wants to help with_ this _attitude?"_ Spyro asked himself, dumbfounded by the dragon king's approach.

"What I always feared has come to pass." Malefor picked up. "You, _pathetic_ excuses for heroes, have failed to protect my daughter." He spat, making Spyro flinch. He wasn't wrong. Omen had taken her away and defeated them… a couple of times now.

"And now, this abomination, _Omen_." Malefor hissed the villain's name spitefuly. "Has taken her away. And so, it is now _your_ duty as Skylanders and _my_ duty as a parent-" He said, taking a step forward and lowering his head even closer to the Skylanders. "To save my daughter." He stated.

Spyro noticed that Malefor was staring directly at him, almost expectantly. "So, you can either tell me where my daughter is, or I can beat it out of you." Malefor threatened, shifting his gaze from Spyro to Cyrus.

"Does this means I get a pass for the-" Cyrus began, gesturing at Malefor's face. "Burning your face business?" He asked in a quiet voice.

"If you assist me in finding my daughter." Malefor began. "My hatred for you can be… diminished." Malefor stated simply.

"That works for me." Cyrus replied, shrugging calmly.

"Kaossandra." Eruptor's voice sounded from behind Spyro as he addressed the sorceress. "Are we really going to allow the _bad guys_ to help us?"

Spyro didn't take his eyes of Malefor, while he waited for Kaossandra's response. The sorceress took a while to speak, but when she did, it was with a steady voice. "We have all seen what Omen is capable of." Kaossandra began. "It is clear he is the greatest threat we have ever faced. He has overpowered us, through Enumat he now commands an army and he now has Cynder, which leaves him one dragon away from completing his goal." She explained. "We cannot afford to turn down a helping hand, regardless of where it comes from, if it truly wants to help."

Silence hung over the air behind Spyro. Kaossandra had spoken quite clearly and laid it down how it was, leaving no room for even Eruptor to argue.

"Wise words, sorceress." Malefor said. "So, boy-" He continued, looking at Cyrus once again. "Speak. What information do you posses?"

Cyrus took a deep breath and spoke out loud for everyone to hear. "Omen's new lair is located in the Outlands in a place called Maraino Castle. There, he has Enumat, the Knights of Solitude and the One-Eyed Legion protecting his ritual chamber. And that's where he will be keeping Cynder." He explained.

Something had always nagged at Spyro's mind, a question he never had a chance to ask. He figured now was as good a time as any to ask. "What _is_ Omen's ritual, exactly?" He asked Cyrus. "Why does he even want to do all of this?"

Everyone kept quiet, as if they too wanted to hear the answer to the question. Cyrus then resumed. "You know how the Skylands are just _one_ realm among many that exist, right?" Cyrus asked trying to lay down a foundation for his explanation. "Well, Omen, I think you can all deduce, isn't from around here. That pile of trash he uses as a body? That's not even what he really looks like." He said, surprising Spyro. He for one though the concept of garbage fit the villian quite well.

"And that cage that he uses as a head? It's actually a miniature dimensional rift. It's what allows him to interact with this world." Cyrus continued explaining. "He told me, he found a way into the Skylands during the peak of the Great War, where the balance of good and evil was being constantly tipped back and forth, which allowed him to send a tiny piece of himself here. Appearing in this period allowed him to go very easily unnoticed while he built up his strength." Cyrus explained.

"The ritual he aims to complete, requires a dragon linked to each of the essential elements from this world." Cyrus continued. "Once he gets these dragons, he can tear the very fabric of this world apart and create a rift between the Skylands and whatever infernal place he comes from, which will let his true form cross over here. And then…" Cyrus paused and darkened. "Nothing will be able to stop him."

"Wait, his _true form_?" Jet-Vac suddenly asked, making Cyrus turn around to face him. "What is that supposed to mean? That we've been fighting a projection of Omen all this time?"

"Yes." Cyrus answered simply. "His true form is much more powerful than his host body here, but it's in _his_ world and he can't come to the Skylands himself without the ritual." He continued. "That's why we need to get the Knights of Solitude and Cynder away from him and destroy his ritual chamber, that way he won't be able to cross over himself and become more powerful than we can handle."

"Okay, So the plan is-" Spyro began. "We go to Maraino Castle, we push through Enumat and his cyclop goons, rescue Cynder, release the Knights of Solitude and destroy that guy's ritual chamber?"

"Pretty much, yeah." Cyrus responded with a sideways nod.

"So where is this _Maraino Castle_?" Malefor asked eagerly. "We must move to rescue Cynder at once!"

"Listen, pal." Eruptor interjected. "We care about Cynder as much as you do, maybe even a little more." He said, making Malefor give a low growl. "But we can't just charge in blind."

"Since when do _you_ give level-headed advice?" Pop Fizz asked confused.

"Since always! Shut up!" Eruptor responded, offended causing Pop Fizz to give a quiet giggle.

"Well, before we get to that." Kaossandra stepped in. "We need to tend to the wounded Skylanders here." She said, looking at the Skylanders knocked out by Omen's assault on the Academy. "We suffered greatly from that monster's attack. Besides, we need time to properly prepare ourselves for this battle."

"Ugh, you are all wasting time!" Malefor complained. "My daughter's safety is at risk here!"

"Your daughter will be fine." Cyrus said. "Omen will not hurt her until he gets his hands on Spyro."

This made Malefor roll his eyes and growl again, but he did not speak further.

"I'll get what remains of the Healing Elixir from the Relics Room to help the wounded Skylanders." Kaossandra stated. "Meanwhile, you all better start to set differences aside and think of a way to defeat that living trash mound." Kaossandra said as she turned around and headed into the Academy.

At that Spyro turned his head to Malefor, who stared down at him. He wasn't eager to work with the sworn enemy to his dragon kind, but he was much more willing to work _with_ him than _against_ him. So with a deep breath, Spyro spoke. "Malefor. I told you this once before, a long time ago." He began, remembering his previous encounters with the dragon king. "I told you, we didn't have to be enemies. I still believe that can be true." He paused, gauging Malefor's reaction to his words. "Do you?" He asked, expecting the worst.

Malefor did not answer immediately. He kept his eyes on Spyro and lowered his head, getting closer to the Skylander. "I told _you_ this once before, a long time ago." Malefor repeated Spyro's words. "You are _brave_ , boy. I simply can't bring myself to take that from you. But, you're a fool as well." Malefor added. "I'm not about to forgive you for taking my daughter away from me and setting her on the path I specifically did not want for her." He snarled, actually making Spyro shrink and take a step back from the massive dragon. "But." Malefor picked up. "For _her_ sake… I'm willing to _tolerate_ you."

Spyro was actually taken back by Malefor's reaction. He was expecting a few more insults, maybe a fireball or two, but never _toleration._ He just didn't know how to react, he was actually unable to move, so he just stared blankly at Malefor, unblinking.

"Ok, you'll have to stop that. And never do it again." Malefor commanded suddenly, a nervous expression in his face as he quickly glanced away from Spyro.

"Dude, you're creeping everyone out." Cyrus whispered to Spyro's ear, snapping him out of his shocked state.

"Oh, sorry." Spyro said, shaking his head wildly, getting into focus. "Now then, anyone have any ideas as to how we're going to this thing?" Spyro asked, looking around his companions.

"Well, since Cyrus is our current informant." Jet-Vac began. "I believe, we should listen to his input." He stated.

"Psssh, Whatever." Eruptor grumbled as he crossed his arms and looked away.

"If the boy truly knows what he says he knows." Malefor began. "Then he should speak."

Everyone then looked at Cyrus expectantly, waiting for the indigo dragon to speak. However, he remained silent, glancing between everyone rapidly while remaining motionless. Spyro knew exactly what was going on, mostly from experience. Stage Fright. So, when Cyrus glanced at Spyro, the purple dragon gave him a soft smile and a thumbs up. _"You got this."_ He mouthed.

At that, Cyrus gave a small smile back before swallowing hard and speaking up. "Very well then." Cyrus began. "I just want to warn everyone that this is going to be quite difficult." He stated. "There will be many challenges once we reach Maraino Castle. But… I actually have a little bit of a plan." He said, smiling a little wider.

"Ok, here's what everyone has to do."

* * *

Enumat was contemplating the landscape. He had his arms crossed over his chest and had a wide grin on his face.

"Man, this is the best promotion ever!" Enumat started with a small chuckle.

The hulking cyclop was looking down at the ash-covered, barren field and darkened sky before him. The whole area before the huge castle Omen had brought him and his legion to was not outstanding from the rest of the Outlands, but this particular patch of land did have a couple of small hills and boulders before the castle walls. The castle itself looked like something out of a ghost story. It was really big, much bigger than the Main Hall Enumat had before his promotion and was actually big enough for all of his boys to fit inside without piling everyone on top of each other, which was a huge improvement. The particular tower Enumat was standing on was rather close to the main gate to the castle, like a watch post.

"Welp! I think I should stop procrastinating." Enumat acknowledged. "I gotta keep the eye on the boss' dragons!" Enumat stated as he began to head to the prisoner's cell, whistling to himself as he went. "Maybe I'll punch something on the way there, my hands are getting sore."

* * *

Stealth Elf gave out a low groan as she opened her eyes sluggishly. She felt she was laying down on the cushions of a couch and as she began to lift herself off her back, she noticed she was in the Academy common room.

"Hey, Elfy." A warm voice spoke from behind Stealth Elf.

She turned her head to look behind her, trying to see who had called her. "Spyro?" Stealth Elf called her friend's name as the purple dragon walked over to her. "What happened?" She asked, grabbing the back of her head, which pulsated with a light, throbbing pain.

"You got knocked out." Spyro explained. "And…" He paused, looking down, his expression darkening. "Omen... He took Cynder."

"What!?" Stealth Elf asked suddenly, making Spyro give a panicked jump.

"Don't worry though!" Spyro said comfortingly, raising his paws to simer Stealth Elf down. "We have a plan, and some new allies!" Spyro announced.

"New allies?" Stealth Elf inquired. "Who are they?"

Spyro swallowed hard and looked to his side after the question. He then kept silent as he fidgeted with his paws, clearly not wanting to tell Stealth Elf something, which made her concerned and press Spyro harder.

"Spyro. Who are they?" She demanded.

"Cyrus and Malefor." Spyro whispered quickly.

" _Cyrus and Malefor!?_ " Stealth Elf shouted, feeling like she wanted to pass out again.

"Yeah, they wouldn't have been my first call either." Spyro said with a nervous chuckle. "But we need any help we can get and well, they stepped up."

Stealth Elf gave Spyro and incredulous look. "Spyro. Are you _sure_ , they aren't going too, oh, I don't know, _backstab_ us!?" She asked concerned.

"I'm sure." Spyro answered with an unwavering tone, giving Stealth Elf a confident look.

She wasn't eager, she wasn't sure this was even a good idea, but, reluctantly and with a long sigh, acknowledging their situation, Stealth Elf spoke. "If you trust them." She began. "I'll try to do the same."

"Thanks, Elfy." Spyro said softly, giving her a wide smile and a quick hug, which startled Stealth Elf, making her unable to hug back in time before Spyro pulled away. "Now. We actually need you to come with me." He stated. "We have a plan we need to fill you in on!" He said, before taking flight and flying out of the common room.

"Augh, speed demon." Stealth Elf scoffed at her friend leaving her behind, before getting up and walking to the Academy gates, which she opened slowly, revealing an unexpected scene.

Despite being warned of their presence by Spyro, Stealth Elf was still surprised by the sight of Cyrus and Malefor beside Eruptor, Jet-Vac, Pop Fizz, Spyro and a few other Skylanders. The villains were acting peacefully enough and didn't seem to pay her any mind. Malefor was standing on the isle before the Academy, probably due to his size while Cyrus was speaking to Jet-Vac and Pop-Fizz.

Stealth Elf couldn't help but frown and clench her fists at the sight of the indigo dragon. She began to try and walk further away from him. But then, Cyrus seemed to notice her and called her name, suddenly flying over to her, making her reluctantly stop.

"What do you want?" Stealth Elf demanded, not eager to speak to Cyrus.

"We will need you for the plan." Cyrus stated. "You'll be playing a rather important part." He explained.

"What will I be doing?" Stealth Elf asked, turning around, crossing her arms and looking at the indigo dragon.

"You can teleport, can't you?" Cyrus asked. "Can you teleport anyone else along with you?"

"Two people." Stealth Elf answered quickly.

"How far away can you teleport?" Cyrus asked, just as quickly.

"About thirty meters." Stealth Elf responded.

"Awsome. Goodbye." Cyrus said with his usual, fake-looking smile, before taking flight and leaving Stealth Elf exasperated.

"Jerk." Stealth Elf whispered as she resumed walking, trying to locate Spyro.

After a few wandering looks, Stealth Elf managed to find the purple dragon speaking to Sprocket over at the Portal Gates. She then moved to try and speak to him, however, she saw as Cyrus flew over and landed beside Spyro. And just like that, she was suddenly not so eager to go speak with her friend.

However, Spyro turned around and noticed Stealth Elf. "Hey, Elf! Come over here!" He invited cheerfully, as if the sarcastic jerk beside him wasn't so much trouble. "Did, Cyrus fill you in on the plan?" He asked.

"Not really." Stealth Elf answered unenthusiastically as she reluctantly approached the two dragons.

"Really?" Spyro asked surprised, tilting his head and then turning it to Cyrus. "Well, I guess we can fill you in together!" Spyro suggested in a jolly tone.

"That would be great." Stealth Elf said, trying her best to not sound sarcastic and pop Spyro's bubble.

"Alright, so." Spyro began. "Since Omen has Cynder in this place called Maraino Castle, which is guarded by Enumat and the Knights of Solitude, we're going to need to split up a little bit to maneuver around Omen and all his baddies." He explained.

"The best way to do that." Cyrus picked up. "Is to draw as many of them out of the castle as we can and then have a small group sneak in unnoticed."

"Which is where you come in." Spyro interjected, pointing at Stealth Elf. "With all of your cool ninja training and your teleporting, combined with Cyrus' knowledge on the inside of the castle, we can find Cynder and shut down Omen's ritual while Enumat and his goons are distracted!"

As Stealth Elf ran the plan so far through her head, she concluded it was rather solid. However, she was not very happy about having to go behind enemy lines with Cyrus of all people. So, she voiced her concern, as innocently as possible. "Will anyone else be going with me and Cyrus?" She asked.

"I will!" Spyro announced making Stealth Elf feel slightly relieved. "Us three will sneak inside of Omen's castle to rescue Cynder and ruin his plans!"

Stealth Elf was convinced with the plan so far, but then, she noticed something didn't fit in. "How will we draw Enumat and his cyclops out?" Stealth Elf asked.

"They will answer to the king's call." Cyrus said cryptically, making Stealth Elf give him a confused look.

"Yes. They will." A rough, gravelly voice said behind Stealth Elf as a large shadow loomed over her.

She turned around and tilted her head up at Malefor, who was smiling sinsterly at them. "You'll draw them out?" Stealth Elf asked in a small voice as the dragon king focused his eyes on her.

"Do you doubt me, child?" Malefor questioned with a low growl, which made Stealth Elf unconsciously take step back and start shaking slightly, which in turn, made Malefor give a small chuckle before walking away, making Stealth Elf exhale with relief.

"He's funny." Cyrus said with a small chuckle of his own. "Anyway." He picked up, turning to Stealth Elf. "If what you told me about you capabilities is true, then we can all get into the castle from a rather safe distance. The trick will be navigating through and finding Cynder as well as leaving. This is because the castle is quite large and has magic in place that allows people to enter through magical means, but prevents them from leaving, like one massive trap." Cyrus explained.

"So, once we get inside, we won't be able to just teleport out or use our badges." Spyro added. "So, we'll need to be careful about how we move around in there while everyone else buys us time by drawing the One Eyed Legion and the Knights of Solitude out and keeping them busy."

"Alright." Stealth Elf began, nodding along to the dragons' explanation. "So, once we get this done, we rescue Cynder and trample all of Omen's lackeys, right?"

"That's the plan." Spyro stated. "We also have a little bit of a time limit." He added. "Omen will be waiting for me on Breathless Hollow until the end of the day, so that means we have to get this done before sundown".At that comment, Stealth Elf unconsciously took a look at the sky. The sun was starting to fall and she guessed they only had a few hours before sun down.

"Okay, so when do we leave? And how will we get to Maraino Castle?" Stealth Elf asked.

"You all have your Relay Badges, don't you?" Cyrus asked. "Using the coordinates I have for Maraino Castle, you'll use them to reach the clearing before the castle walls so you're friends can create a proper distraction. Then we'll use your teleportation to get in from there."

"Who's going to do the distraction?" Stealth Elf asked.

"Omen wounded a lot of you guys." Spyro began. "Even with the Healing Elixir, we were unable to heal all of you, so, only Eruptor, Jet-Vac, Pop Fizz will be in charge of the distraction."

"And Malefor?" Stealth Elf asked. "How will he get there? Aren't Relay Badges a little small for him or something?"

"He can use undead magic." Spyro stated. "It lets him reach hidden places and allows him to cross through great distances quickly because of his connection to the Underworld." He explained.

Stealth Elf walked herself through this plan. It really seemed to be their best shot at getting Cynder back and at defeating Omen. She wasn't sure about the parts where they worked alongside villains, but she guessed she had no choice. So she took a deep breath, flushing her concerns out.

"Alright." Stealth Elf began. "Whenever you're ready."

* * *

Spyro was standing on the Portal Gates beside his friends and Cyrus. He took a deep breath. This was going to be their most dangerous and important mission since their battle against Strykore and Kaos in the Core of Light. Just like then, the stakes were quite possibly the entire Skylands' safety. But this time, it was different, more personal. Omen had taken this too far when he took Cynder, when he tortured Cyrus, when he brainwashed the Knights of Solitude.

"Everyone, has their Relay Badges ready?" Sprocket asked out loud as she input the coordinates Cyrus had given her for Maraino Castle on the Portal Gates' monitor.

"Everyone is ready." Spyro stated. "Whenever you are Sprocket." He said with a firm nod.

At that, Sprocket returned the nod and made the final preparations to send the Skylanders away.

Spyro wasn't going to allow that monster to keep getting away with this. He was going to make sure to stop him, no matter what. Then, Spyro felt the Gates send him across the Skylands in an intense flash of white light.

After a few seconds, Spyro felt as he touched down on solid ground once again and as the white light of the Portal Gates dispersed, he was able to take a look around himself. The landscape was familiar to Spyro. The ash covered ground, the dark grey sky, the sharp boulders sprouting out of the ground here and there all across waving hills was immediately reminiscent of the Outlands. They were here.

All of his fellow Skylanders were standing around him. Spyro looked around, trying to find a particular person. After looking over to a hill nearby, Spyro spotted Cyrus, looking at the horizon beside a large jagged boulder. Spyro walked over to him, lifting small tufts of ash under his paws as he trotted over.

"Cyrus?" Spyro called as he approached the indigo dragon. "Where is the-" He was about to ask about the location of the castle, but as his eyes wandered to where Cyrus was staring at, he was stunned by the answer to his question.

Maraino Castle was enormous, definitely larger than Kaossandra's old castle. It was made of gray stone bricks and was situated on the center of the gargantuan island and across a long, ash-covered field from the Skylanders. It had two massive towers, joined together by a huge arching bridge. The top of these towers were decorated with spiky purple tiles and white, jagged spikes. There were also no windows on these towers, which Spyro found quite strange. Blocking any other details of the castle and standing tall before the Skylanders, stood the imposing outer wall, which had a massive metal gate below a small watchtower which had a lookout window facing the Skylanders and was similarly decorated to the two massive constructs behind it.

As the rest of the Skylanders walked up the small hill to join the two dragons, they all gasped in astonishment at the view of the castle.

Spyro swallowed hard at the view of the castle. "Man, Omen really knows how to pick these places doesn't he?" He joked nervously.

"He has a good agent." Cyrus explained simply, making Spyro give him a sideways glance. "In any case. _That_ , is Maraino Castle." He stated, pointing at the imposing bastion in front of them. "Omen must have Cynder held in one of those towers-" He gestured at the conjoined structures. "Stealth Elf will have to get us in near the outer wall-" He gestured at the impotent grey barrier. "While you all-" He gestured at the Skylanders. "Keep the bad guys entertained while we go inside and find Cynder."

"Question!" Pop Fizz said, raising his hand above his head.

"What's your question?" Cyrus asked, turning his gaze to Pop Fizz.

"Where's Malefor?" Pop Fizz asked simply.

The realization hit Spyro suddenly. The undead dragon king was nowhere to be found.

"Oh, great!" Eruptor shouted, flinging his arms in the air. "So the bad guy didn't show up! What a surprise!"

"He'll show up." Spyro began. "He wouldn't just leave Cynder here."

"And how do you know that?" Eruptor questioned, looking at Spyro expectantly.

"He doesn't trust us to get her out ourselves." Spyro explained simply, making Eruptor give out a low grumble and cross his arms, but stop his arguing.

"Alright, now." Spyro picked up, turning his head toward the sky over Maraino Castle, noticing the sun was starting to get closer and closer to the horizon, signaling their dwindling time. "Elfy, Cyrus? Where do we go in?" He asked, looking at the layout of the outer wall, trying to figure out a good access point.

"If her teleportation range is thirty meters." Cyrus started up. "The best way to access would be through the right flank of the wall. Over _there._ " Cyrus stated, gesturing at a small jagged boulder that had two large spikes which was positioned a fair distance away from the wall on the right side of the structure.

"Right, then let's get going!" Spyro exclaimed, eager to get the plan underway.

"Wait!" Cyrus interjected. "We can only go inside once your friends draw the One Eyed Legion out." He stated. "It's the only way we'll be able to go around unnoticed."

"Oh, alright." Spyro said, deflating slightly. He then turned to his other friends. "Guys, do you have any idea of what you're going to do when the bad guys come after you?" He asked concerned.

"Uhhhh." Eruptor began shakily, giving worried glances to Jet-Vac and Pop Fizz. "We'll improvise." He said simply after a nervous chuckle.

"Well alright." Spyro said, turning around, gazing at Maraino Castle. "Everyone knows what to do. So, let's get going." He said, taking flight toward the spot Cyrus had recommended.

The purple dragon was then followed by Cyrus and Stealth Elf, all three figures traveling silently, trying to remain unnoticed by potential scouts as they got ready for their infiltration.

* * *

Eruptor was sweating bullets. He hated this plan. He hated his part to play in it, he hated the idea of Cyrus going with his friends inside the enemy base and he hated having to wait on Malefor of all people to make the whole thing work. And as Eruptor walked through the ash-covered meadow, slowly up to the front of the imposing grey brick wall and iron gates beneath the looming watchtower in front of him, Eruptor could simply not bring himself to do more than sweat. He felt like lightheaded.

"It's alright chap." Jet-Vac said suddenly as he walked beside Eruptor. "We've gotten out of worse." He spoke in what Eruptor assumed was a reassuring voice, but the small squeaks and the occasional egg dropping from the senior Skylander's rear made his words very ineffective at soothing Eruptor in the slightest.

"Uh, Jet-Vac, no to sound pessimistic or anything." Pop-Fizz interjected. "But when have we ever gotten out of something worse that _this_?" He asked, gesturing at the massive bastion in front of them.

"Stry...kore?" Jet-Vac suggested meekly as the three Skylanders came to a stop a few meters away from the massive iron gates to the castle.

As all three of them panned their heads to contemplate the structure before them, Eruptor just couldn't keep it in anymore.

The magma Skylander bent over and hurled out a small puddle of bright gooey lava, which made the other Skylanders give disgusted exclamations and step away from Eruptor and his fiery puke.

"Sorry." Eruptor managed to say as he straightened out and recovered. "But does anyone else feel that this whole plan is a bust? I mean, how do they expect us to call any sort of attention out here?" He asked gesturing at the massive gates in front of the Skylanders.

"Well…" Jet-Vac began slowly as he turned his head over to the looming watchtower above the gates in front of them. "I _might_ have and idea." He said as he drew his vac gun.

Eruptor watched as Jet-Vac aimed his weapon up the tower before speaking. "You and I are going to shoot it at once, since Pop Fizz can't throw that far.." Jet-Vac stated. "That ought to bring at least a few of them out… hopefully." He added in an undertone.

Not being able to think of a better plan, Eruptor raised his arms and aimed at the tower. "Do we aim at the top or the middle?" Eruptor asked.

"The middle." Jet-Vac answered. "We can do the most damage that way." He explained.

At that, Eruptor took aim for the middle of the tower, a certain spot he thought looked a little worn down in comparison to the rest. "On three?" Eruptor suggested.

"On three." Jet-Vac agreed.

Then, both Skylanders slowly began to count up to three in unison. "One… two… _three_!" They both shouted as they fired their attacks at the tower.

Eruptor saw as his projectiles and Jet-Vac's shot all the way up to the tower and crashed violently against the worn-down spot Eruptor had noticed. Apparently Jet-Vac had noticed this spot as well. After a loud bang and a fiery blast, Eruptor saw as a large hole was now gaping on the middle of the tower. But then, Eruptor heard something crack. He focused on the tower to notice that there was now a large web of cracks that were spreading out form the hole the two Skylanders had created. After a few seconds, Eruptor saw as the tower began to slowly crumble, tumbling down.

"Uhhh, guys?" Pop Fizz began. "Isn't that gonna fall down?" He asked concerned.

The tower was indeed falling down, and seemed to be heading toward them. This triggered Eruptor's flight or fight response. The stubby magma Skylander suddenly turned around and began running hurriedly away, leaving his friends behind.

"Hey, Eruptor!" Pop Fizz exclaimed as he and Jet-Vac also began to run away. "Don't leave us behind!"

However, Eruptor didn't stop running, he merely peekd behind himself and saw his friends running away from the crumbling tower that was about to crash on top of them. Then, with a thunderous sound and a mighty impact that made Eruptor stumble to the ground, the watchtower crashed onto the ground, just beside the Skylanders, kicking up a massive cloud of ash as it did.

Eruptor coughed harshly as the ash settled on top of him and he tried to get of the ground. As he did, he tried to get the grey ash of his back before searching for his friends. "Guys? Where are you?" He called, his vision slowly becoming clearer as the ash began to settle revealing the fallen tower to Eruptor's side.

"We're alright!" Jet-Vac's voice answered. "Just stay where you are! Wait for the ash to disperse!"

Eruptor heeded his friend's advice. He stayed in his place, looking around through the slowly dissipating ash. After a few moments, Eruptor could see clearly enough to spot Jet-Vac and Pop Fizz standing a few meters away from him.

"Guys!" He called, waving his arms at them, trying to get their attention. The two Skylanders reacted to Eruptor's call and spotted him rather quickly, hurrying over to him.

"Well, that was a mess." Jet-Vac said in a down tone as he reached Eruptor. The ash around them had completely dissipated by the time Jet-Vac continued. "Do you think that called their attention?" He asked as he turned around to look at the iron gates.

"I don't know." Pop Fizz interjected. "Cyrus or the guys haven't signaled anything" He said, making Eruptor glance over to the jagged rock to their left, the one Stealth Elf, Spyro and Cyrus were hiding behind, waiting for them to draw the bad guys out. "And well, nobody is answering." Pop Fizz picked up, gesturing at the still closed iron gates.

Eruptor was about to give out a stressed groan, but, a loud metallic noise interrupted him. Eruptor noticed that, with a sonorous scraping, the huge iron gates had started opening, slowly sliding apart. However, the gates only opened partly, only enough to allow a couple of people to cross through side by side.

Eruptor got his guard up, followed by his fellow Skylanders as three shadowy figures crossed through the narrowly opened gates. After the three figures crossed out to the ashen meadow, the iron gates behind them closed once again. Eruptor could hardly make the figures apart, because they all seemed to be made out of pure darkness that swallowed the dim light that shone over them, they all also had their heads hanging low, making their eyes barely visible. Swallowing hard, Eruptor conjured images of the Knights of Solitude.

However, these featureless figures were more humanoid. They walked on two legs and all three of them were rather tall. But, Eruptor could make out a couple of features that set the figures apart. They were all walking in a triangular formation. The one that was leading the formation looked rather familiar. It was slim in figure and had a strange headwear. The figure's eyes were round and expressionless, glowing with a crystalline brown light. The figure's hands were also glowing, however they glowed a dim golden light and Eruptor noticed that the fingers ended in sharp claws.

The two figures behind the leader were actually a little taller and much burlier. They also had a single bulging eye, which glowed a vibrant green. Another distinguishing feature these figures had, was their equipment. They had spiky, golden shoulder pads and chest plates for armor. They also had similarly decorated morning stars, which they wielded with both hands. The gilded equipment shone in sinister contrast to the perfect darkness of the one-eyed figures' bodies. However, Eruptor also found those figures familiar. He was almost sure he had seen those two cyclops before.

"Those aren't too many bad guys." Jet-Vac began while he got into battle stance as the three figures silently lined up side by side in front of them, with the leader in the middle, all still with their heads down. "I guess we'll just have to show them we mean business." He said while he lifted his vac gun at one of the one-eyed figures as he positioned himself to Eruptor's right, while Pop Fizz did the same on his left.

Then, with a disturbingly sudden movement, the three figures lifted their heads in sync, their empty, glowing eyes fixated on the Skylanders. The disturbingly coordinated motion, trademark of the Knights of Solitude made Eruptor get goosebumps.

"Alright you creeps!" Eruptor shouted, trying to shake off his nerves. "Who wants some!?" He dared boldly, making his friends take aim at the figures.

Then, as if to answer, the two one-eyes figures broke into a sudden sprint, charging at the Skylanders dragging their gilded weapons behind them, ready to do swig them at the Skylanders.

"Uh, oh." Eruptor said simply as he tried to back away from the charging figures, firing his flaming projectiles at them as he did.

As Eruptor fired, so did Jet-Vac and Pop Fizz. The three Skylanders launched a barrage of projectiles at their charging enemies, but, to their unpleasant surprise, they did almost nothing to wound them. The many projectiles that clashed against the figures' gilded armor and dark features seemed to have no effect, as the two enemies simply forged through and were now close enough to swing at the Skylanders with their shining weapons.

Jet-Vac and Pop Fizz were quite a bit faster than Eruptor. They managed to jump out of the way of the incoming swings. However, Eruptor himself, was a little slow to react. As the two figures got close enough, they came to a sliding stop, swinging their morning stars upward from behind them.

Then, Eruptor felt two spiky metal spheres crash against his face, lifting him off the ground out of the sheer strength behind them. The magma Skylander was knocked off his feet and flung several feet through the air, landing roughly on his back, kicking up a large puff of ash as he did.

"Man, I really felt that." Eruptor groaned in pain as he tried to get up and see what was going on.

The first thing he saw was a golden ball coming down on top of him. So with a frightened yelp, Eruptor rolled to his right, narrowly avoiding the falling morning star swing from one of the one-eyed figures. Eruptor then hurriedly tried to back off, releasing firebolts at his looming enemy. However, the flaming projectiles crashed almost harmlessly against the figure's body. Then, with a quick sideways swing, the figure slammed it's morning star against Eruptor's side, knocking the Skylander to the ground once again.

"Okay, that's enough!" Eruptor roared as he got on his feet once again and released a stream of searing magma from his mouth. The stream, fell short in front of him, but it created a large puddle of red-hot lava, which was enough to make the one-eyed figure in front of him to back off and give Eruptor a breather.

Using the time he had bought for himself, Eruptor looked around, trying to see what was going on. He saw that the leading figure had stayed in its place since the battle started. It was simply staring at Eruptor in perfect silence, which slightly crept him out. Then, Eruptor looked over to his friends. He saw they were having just as hard a time as him. The figure they were fighting was swinging it's morning star around as it chased Jet-Vac and Pop Fizz. The two Skylanders were trying to fire their projectiles at the figure, but similarly to Eruptor's situation,, they were not doing much. On the other hand, the figure was swinging it's gilded weapon in mighty overhead swings so powerful they blowed up small clouds of ash as the Skylanders narrowly avoided the attacks.

Then, Eruptor was drawn back into the heat of the moment when his own figure jumped over the puddle he had created, its morning star tensed up behind it, ready to land between Eruptor's eyes. So, quickly rolling out of the way, Eruptor avoided the figure's mighty ground pound which kicked up a huge cloud of grey ash, which obstructed Eruptor's view of the figure and his friends.

Eruptor raised his arms and aimed at the cloud of in front of him, but didn't fire. He wasn't sure if he would hit his friends, he couldn't bring himself to take that risk. So, frustrated, he shouted. "Show yourself!" As if the virtually inanimate figure would respond.

However, to Eruptor's surprise, it did. The figure jumped out of the ash cloud with blinding speed, tackling Eruptor and slamming the long hilt of it's gilded weapon against the Skylander's face, knocking him to the ground. Once Eruptor was on his back on the ash-covered floor, he could feel the figure press the hilt of it's weapon across Eruptor's face, preventing him from getting up. The figure's empty glowing eye was fixated on Eruptor, not showing any emotion on sign of conscience as it tried to squeeze the life out of him using its weapons hilt.

"Get off!" Eruptor shouted, trying to lift the figure's hilf off his face using both of his arms. But it was no use. It was almost as if Eruptor wasn't even struggling. The hilt kept slowly pressing against his face, making him unable to move and it was really starting to hurt. "Get off!" Eruptor repeated as he started kicking and squirming, still unable to get the figure off him, barely making it react at all to what he was doing. If anything, the more Eruptor struggled the harder the figure pressed, all while it's vibrant green eye remained expressionless, still fixated on Eruptor.

So, in frustration and despair, Eruptor let go of the golden hilt with one of his arms. "Get _off_!" Eruptor shouted at the top of his lungs while he swung his smoldering fist right at the figure's face.

Then, after Eruptor felt his fist slam against the moist surface of the figure's eye, the Skylander felt as the pressure on his face was suddenly relieved and he then saw as the figure on top of him bent back and stood up, it's head and arms twitching uncontrollably as it took several steps back from Eruptor, clawing desperately at it's head, which now had thin streams of smoke emerging from it. Despite looking like it was in great pain, no sound came from the figure

As Eruptor got up, knocking the figure's weapon off him and rubbing his pained face he came to a conclusion, which was strengthened by the figure's reaction to having it's eye damaged. "That's their weak spot." Eruptor said with a mischievous smile. "Alright tough guy, how do you like _this_!" He shouted as he fired two firebolts aimed at the figure's head.

Even if it wasn't intended, the timing was perfect. Just as the figure started to compose itself and lower it's hands, Eruptor's firebolts crashed against its face, causing the figure to bend over and start to convulse once again.

"Rule of three I guess." Eruptor said as he began to charge toward the twitching figure. With a powerful jump, Eruptor leaped into the air due to the height difference between him and the figure. Then with a flaming uppercut, he magma Skylander ran his fist through the figure's face, getting its hands out of the way and reaching its oversized glowing eye.

Then, as Eruptor landed on the ground. He saw as the figure slowly began to fall backwards to the ground. When it landed on it's back, it kicked up a small puff of ash while it remained unmoving, thin streams of smoke still emerging from it's now closing green eye. however, after a few seconds, something strange happened to the figure. It's black body began to shimer under it's golden armor and suddenly, the darkness that covered it began to dissipate slowly, like mist, revealing something that made Eruptor gasp. He _had_ seen this cyclop once before. When he first met Enumat, the purple cyclop had two bodyguards. Two heavily armored, burly cyclops. By the looks of it, they had received a promotion, Omen style.

Then, something came into Eruptor's mind. "The guys!" He reminded himself.

At that, Eruptor looked around for his friends. He saw that their situation had not improved. In fact, as Eruptor saw the remaining figure slam it's golden weapon against Jet-Vac's ribcage, sending sprawling back onto his back as he landed roughly on the ashen ground, the magma Skylander concluded things were going a little worse for them.

So, Eruptor fired two projectiles at the figure's back, trying to shift its focus from his friends to him. As the two firebolts connected with the figure's back, Eruptor assumed he had succeeded, for the figure slowly turned around and stared vacantly at him.

"Guys!" Eruptor called as the figure began to slowly walk toward him. "Their eye is their weak spot! Aim for their eye!" He said as he released another firebolt at the figure's head, aiming for the eye.

But, to Eruptor's surprise, the figure used it's morning star to knock the fiery projectile out of the way, before charging at Eruptor with a sudden burst of speed. However, before it could get close enough, the figure came to an abrupt stop.

"Don't turn your back on us!" Jet-Vac shouted from behind the figure, which then began to slowly turn around to face the senior Skylander.

Taking his chance, Eruptor jumped into the air once again. With another flaming uppercut, Eruptor struck the figure's eye, causing it to suddenly swing it's morning star frantically around it with one hand, while it covered its eye with its remaining hand.

As it slowly calmed down, the figure was struck by an explosive potion, courtesy of Pop Fizz. The attack was then followed up by Jet-Vac, who fired a blast of air from his vac-gun at the figure's eye which caused the figure to suddenly go stiff and slowly tumble backward and fall roughly on its back. Then, just like the other, the darkness over the figure began to shimmer and disperse, revealing the green cyclop beneath.

"Well, that was… memorable." Jet-Vac said between exhausted breaths.

"That's one way to put it." Eruptor said as he exhaled sharply and looked over to the last remaining figure. "And it's not even over yet."

The Skylanders all then slowly turned over to face the last figure, the leader. The slim figure looked at the Skylanders vacantly. Then, it set it's hands to its sides. As it did, the golden glow on the figure's hands got significantly more intense. And then, the figure began to take slow, steady steps toward the Skylanders.

Just having come out of being smacked around by the two cyclops, Eruptor was not in optimal shape to fight what he safely assumed was an even more powerful enemy. But he wasn't going to stand down. He couldn't afford to fail today, so he raised his arms and took aim, ready to give his best, and his last.

But then, a strange, unworldly sound came from behind Eruptor. The sound was followed by a huge draft of air which clashed against Eruptor's back and almost knocked him off his feet.

Trying to get a sense of what was going on, Eruptor tried regaining his balance and turning around, to where the whole rukus had come from. When he did, he jaw fell limp as his eyes went round.

Emerging from a massive, red, swirling portal, Eruptor saw a huge winged shape fly toward him. He saw as in one fell swoop, Malefor landed in front of the Skylanders and with a swift motion, he opened his fanged jaws and snapped them around the figure the Skylanders were about to face, devouring it in one bite.

After slowly swallowing, the undead dragon king spoke in a smug voice as he licked his lips "Savory."

Eruptor slowly began to back away from the massive dragon before calling his name. "Malefor! You came!" He shouted with an unexpectedly relieved tone.

"Of course I came." Malefore began, turning his head toward Eruptor. "Did you really expect me to leave something like this up to _you_? Hah! Don't make me laugh." He spat as he turned his head toward Maraino Castle.

"Huh, Spyro was right." Eruptor sighed. "Well, at least he's here to help." He grumbled as he walked closer to the iron gates he had distanced himself from during his fight against the figures.

"Well, your highness?" Eruptor began as he noticed his fellow Skylanders walk up to him. "What are you going to do?" He asked Malefor.

Malefor stayed silent and still for a couple of seconds. Eruptor didn't press further because he didn't want to end up in Malefor's stomach. And his patience was rewarded when Malefor answered as a dangerous smile curled up his lips. "I'm just going to knock on their door."

At that, the huge dragon swayed his head back and held his breath, before swaying it forward and releasing a huge fireball, several times larger than Eruptor himself. The massive flaming projectile crashed against the iron gates. With a sonorous and smoky blast, the fireball blasted the gates open, revealing the inside of Maraino Castle.

"That should call their attention." Malefor said simply, standing proudly in his place.

Inside the castle Eruptor could see many large animal fur huts, scattered across a huge courtyard inside the castle before the entrance to the main bastion, from which the two massive towers rose up. The bastion itself was decorated menacingly, with several white jagged spikes emerging outward from the grey walls around the purple gates that would allow entry to the bastion keep. He guessed Spyro and the others would have to sneak inside rather quickly.

Then, Eruptor noticed that several small cyclops were starting to poke their heads out from the large huts, scanning the area with their individual, bloodshot eyes. After a couple of the one-eyed enemies noticed the damage to the castle gates, they yelped in surprise before putting their heads back in their tents and remaining silent for a couple of moments. Afterwards, from each of the many huts across the spacious courtyard. dozens upon dozens of cyclop began to emerge, roaring a shrill battle cry as the waved their weapons in the air while they charged at the Skylanders.

Eruptor felt his knees wobble slightly. "Those are a lot of cyclops." He said in a meek voice.

"They shall make a filling meal." Malefor said maliciously as he lowered his head and smiled, baring his cruel fangs.

"No use in trying to back down." Jet-Vac began. "This is the final push. We might as well give it our all." He said as he raised his vac-gun at the charging cyclops.

"Yeah, they want some? They can come get it!" Pop Fizz shouted as he began mixing several ingredients into a large beaker, which had a clear, transparent liquid inside. As the ingredients began mixing in the beaker, a strange green glow began to emanate from the liquid.

Eruptor then looked to his right, over to where the jagged rock his other friends were waiting behind. He smiled as he saw Stealth Elf and Spyro, rearing their heads and hands to wave at him, signaling they were all ready.

Not wasting any more time, Eruptor face the incoming horde of cyclops, standing his ground as they approached, waving their pickaxes, their spears and maces at him and his friends. But he didn't step back. He raised his arms and took aim, ready to fire.

As the cyclops got closer and closer, he couldn't help the anticipation. "Light 'em up!" He shouted as he released a volley of firebolts at the cyclops that were leading the charge. He had learned from his previous fight and aimed at the big, bulging eyeballs on his enemies' heads. As his projectiles hit their targets, the cyclops struck were knocked back into the ground.

The magma Skylander then saw his friends join in on the attack, firing their attacks the the cyclops, cutting their charge short. As all three Skylanders released their volley of projectiles against their enemies, they managed to cut down a few of the charging enemies, however, most of them were still going strong and were now getting really close to the Skylanders.

But then, Malefor's voice sounded above Eruptor. "Ah, poor amateurs." He said degradingly. After that, the dragon king took a deep breath and released a huge stream of blazing orange flames, that scorched all the cyclops getting close to the Skylanders.

After Malefor's flames died out, Eruptor could see he had cut down plenty of enemies in one attack. He was about to feel relieved, but he saw that there were still many cyclops on the field and they were now spreading further across, making taking too many of them out like Malefor had just done, more problematic. Eruptor also saw that more cyclops continued emerging from the huts inside the courtyard, almost as it the fur constructs had a cartoonish storing capacity. Then, he saw as several wizard-looking cyclops, wearing white and purple robes and wielding giant magnifying glasses were lining up on the tall, grey walls around the castle.

"Everyone!" Eruptor called. "Those ones can fire lasers!" He said, recalling his first encounter with the wizard-looking cyclops back when they were first going to Winter Keep a while ago.

"It matters little what they can do." Malefor began. "I shall cut all of them down!" He said with a villainous laugh as he fired another massive fireball at a small formation of robbed cyclops on the left side of the wall, blowing up part of the grey construct along with the one-eyed enemies.

" _Man I don't think I realize how glad I should be he's on our side now"_ Eruptor thought to himself in concern as a small drop of sweat traveled down his temple.

Eruptor then looked at his friends and at his new ally. He then looked at the many incoming enemies. _"We're ending this."_ He thought to himself. _"We're ending this today!"_ He declared to himself as he got into battle position, ready to keep on fighting.

"This is the last straw!"

* * *

 _Author's notes_

 _Well... that took a while didn't it? The second to last chapter. We're almost there everyone. The last chapter will come out soon, so keep an eye out!_

 _-_ I still don't own Skylanders Academy

-One chapter left!

\- WARNING... WARNING...

BOSS BATTLE INCOMING


	13. Chapter 13

**Skylanders Academy: New Horizon**

by andresponceb2002

 **Chapter 13) The Last Straw. Part 2**

Spyro watched from the jagged boulder he, Stealth Elf and Cyrus were hiding behind, as Malefor and the rest of his friends began to face off against the many cyclops that were emerging from Maraino Castle. He saw Malefor use his massive claws to swipe away small groups of enemies, sending them sprawling back while Eruptor, Jet-Vac and Pop Fizz fired their attacks at any cyclop that got through the dragon king. Spyro could also see a couple of cyclops lined up on the castle outer wall. The were dressed in white and purple wizard robes and were wielding giant magnifying glasses.

The wizard-looking cyclops placed their magnifying glasses in front of their large, bloodshot eyeballs and then fired orange beams of energy at the Skylanders. Spyro was about to give into the urge to warn his friends, revealing his location to his enemies. But, he was cut off when Malefor used one of his wings to block the many beams aimed at the Skylanders. This act of protection shocked Spyro, almost as much as when he saw Malefor fire a huge ball of fire at a cluster of wizard-looking cyclops, incinerating part of the wall they stood on along with them.

"Alright." Spyro heard Cyrus beguin behind him, making him turn around to face him and Stealth Elf. "That should be enough to avoid any attention to us." Cyrus picked up. "We should go around the edge of the outer courtyard and get through the bastion gate as quickly as possible." He said before looking over to Stealth Elf. "Whenever you're ready." He said, stretching out one of his paws toward Stealth Elf.

Spyro then remembered Stealth Elf had to teleport them into the castle herself, so he stretched out one of his paws toward his friend and looked at her warmly. "Whenever you're ready." He repeated, a little softer than Cyrus.

This made Stealth Elf give him a small smile and nod, before pulling up her brown bandana and taking his paw. "I'm ready." She said in a warm tone.

"You know I'm coming too, right?" Cyrus asked sarcastically as he held his paw in the air, still waiting for Stealth Elf.

This made Stealth Elf give out an irritated scoff and suddenly grasp Cyrus' forearm. Spyro assumed she had done so very tightly because he could notice Cyrus' left eye twitched very subtly when she did, indication that he was hurt.

Then, Stealth Elf closed her eyes and took a long, deep breath, betting ready to teleport herself and her companions behind enemy lines.

Then, Spyro felt like he was dropped from a really tall place and was unable to fly. He couldn't see or really feel anything for a couple of seconds except jarring nausea before he felt himself touch down on solid ground once again.

"Man, that did not feel good." Spyro said sluggishly, slowly getting his bearings.

Spyro and his companions were now in a completely different spot from where they previously were. The ground beneath Spyro was solid and made of dark grey stone. As the purple dragon looked around, he could notice that they were in what looked like a massive courtyard. Across this courtyard, Spyro could see many large tents made of animal furs. From these tents, huge amounts of cyclops were emerging, all running as fast as they could in a single direction, toward Spyro's other friends.

The cyclops didn't seem to notice Spyro and his companions as they kept running toward the massive battle outside, something Spyro was grateful for. Spyro then turned around and faced the gargantuan bastion before him. The two conjoined towers loomed imposingly over him and the purple gate in front of him, which was surrounded by jagged white spikes, stood firmly, giving out an air of impenetrability..

"Alright, once we're inside the bastion-" Cyrus began, gesturing at the enormous construct behind them and drawing Spyro and Stealth Elf's attention. "We won't be able to go back until we reach the top of the towers. We should find Cynder and the ritual chamber up there. Even with your friends distraction, I'm almost sure there will be a few guards left."

"So we just fight through them." Spyro stated. "We aren't going to let up now."

"He's right." Stealth Elf interjected. "That's our friend up there. And even if it wasn't, the fate of the Skylands might be at stake as well."

"In that case." Cyrus picked up giving a short sigh. "Just teleport us in." He said, stretching out his paw out to Stealth Elf once again. "We're running out of time." He added, which made Spyro look up toward the sky.

Shining faintly through the dark clouds, Spyro could see the light of the sun, slowly edging closer and closer to the horizon, indeed showing their limited time.

"Okay." Spyro picked up, before stretching out his own paw. "Let's go, Elf." He said, eager to put an end to this mess as quickly as he could.

* * *

As Cyrus felt himself touch down on solid ground once again, he took a look around.

Beside him, Cyrus saw Spyro and Stealth Elf. He noticed Spyro was looking a little queasy from the teleporting and that Stealth Elf was taking a look around. She was a little harder to read with her bandana on, but Cyrus could tell she was slightly awed by the inside of the castle. She was looking around with wide eyes and focusing on certain details. After Spyro composed himself, he joined Stealth Elf in her admiration of the castle.

Cyrus couldn't really blame them, the place was rather magnificent, for a monstrous villain's lair.

The ceiling was held up by smooth, black marble pillars, decorated with elegant orange patterns. They also held torches, light with now familiar blue flames. The floor was made of well-maintained, dark grey stone bricks. There were several purple, orange and green colored banners hanging from the walls, all covered in red symbols that from far away, looked like insane scribbles. There were also two red doors, made of elegant carved wood, each with a simple silver handle on the left and right-hand sides of the room

"Guys." Cyrus called, pulling the Skylanders out of their admiration of the castle room. "We need to get moving." He said, making his way toward the door on the right-hand side.

"You're right." Spyro said, walking toward Cyrus. "How far up do we need to go?

"There are more than a couple of flights." Cyrus stated as he got nearer to the red door. "We'll need to move quickly, daylight is running out." He warned, remembering their rather small time window.

At that, Cyrus took a short breath and the six black markings on his chest flashed green as he released a small bolt of green and black fire, which burned right through the silver handle on the red door. After doing this, Cyrus headbuttted the door open, allowing passage through.

"Let's go." Cyrus said with a strained voice as he tried to control the pain in his throat as he gestured Spyro and Stealth Elf toward the door.

At this, the three of them crossed through to the next room. It was similarly decorated to the one the had come through, but this one had a stairway, which swirled around a thick black marble pillar and ascended through the roof.

"Do either of you do cardio? Cuz, that looks like a lot of stairs. " Spyro joked nervously as he flew over to the stairway and peeked upward.

"Spyro, we can't waste time!" Stealth Elf stated, irritated at her friend's jokes and making him focus. She then turned her head toward Cyrus. "Lead the way, Cyrus."

At that Cyrus took flight toward the ascending stairway. "Don't drag behind." He said simply, as he began to fly upward around the black pillar, while Spyro followed hurriedly behind. Cyrus could hear the district popping sound of Stealth Elf's teleportation behind him as well.

Cyrus led Spyro and Stealth Elf up through many floors. They all similar designs. All of them were round chambers, decorated with green, orange and purple banners, similar to the ones on the first floor. There were a couple of elegant armchairs on each floor, accompanied by a statue of a single, mildly intimidating gargoyle, made out of different materials. Cyrus noticed that the materials from which these statues were made, slowly became more and more valuable as he and his companions ascended. They started out with simple porcelain material, but after going up ten rooms, the statues seemed to now be made of well polished bronze.

After a while, when the three companions began to cross through the bronze leves, Cyrus rose through the second floor which held a bronze statue and he was suddenly struck on his right side by a beam of energy, which knocked him to the floor and interrupted his flight. As Cyrus landed on the ground, clenching his teeth from the pain on his side, he scanned the room.

Getting off from the elegant chairs around the room, six cyclops were now slowly walking toward Cyrus. Five of them wielded pickaxes and spears, but one had a giant magnifying glass, which glowed slightly.

"Hey, Cyrus. Where'd you go?" Spyro's voice asked. After a few seconds, Spyro emerged from the stairway in the middle of the room, and was followed by Stealth Elf popping in beside him.

Now, all three of them were surrounded by cyclops, who growled and pointed their weapons at them as they slowly walked toward them.

"We do not have time for this." Cyrus stated as he slowly walked backward, toward the stairway. "We can't let them waste our time. We don't have that much."

"He's right." Stealth Elf began, drawing her daggers and pointing them at the one-eyed enemies in front of her. "We need to move."

"Then say no more!" Spyro suddenly exclaimed. The purple dragon then flew off the ground above Cyrus and Stealth Elf before he released a large stream of flames as he spun in his place. As he did, the orange fire flew over Cyrus and Stealth Elf, but showered the cyclops, who began running around and bumping into each other, causing a massive, flaming racket.

"If there's more of them." Cyrus began as he contemplated his brother's work. "They're going to have heard that." He said as he turned around and peeked his head under the spiraling stairway, noticing a couple of green and blue one-eyed heads were imitating him. "Yup, they definitely heard that." He stated, drawing his head back and turning to the Skylanders.

"Well, I guess that means we'll have to forge through." Spyro said with a small exhale. "But, you're right. We can't let them stop us from reaching the top. How much further by the way?" Spyro asked.

"There are ten floors per material." Cyrus began explaining, pointing at the gargoyle statues in the room beside the elegant chairs. "We already crossed porcelain, and just got into bronze. That means there are still silver and gold as well as the rest of the bronze floors, which means there are still about twenty eight floors left." Cyrus calculated.

"Twenty eight floors!?" Spyro exclaimed.

"Yes, and you can be sure there's going to be more enemies on the way." Cyrus stated.

"Then we don't have to waste." Stealth Elf said, as she walked toward the ascending stairway. She then turned her head at Cyrus, and gave him a narrow and cold stare. "Don't drag behind." She said, repeating the indigo dragon's words, something that confused him, for he hadn't meant those words for her specifically,.

But then, Stealth Elf closed her eyes, ready to teleport away.

Then, Cyrus quickly stretched out his paw and held Stealth Elf's shoulder. He was about to speak, but before he could, he felt as his paw was slapped away by Stealth Elf before she held one of her daggers at his neck.

"Wait." Cyrus said flatly, as he raised his eyebrows over his half opened eyes in a bored, almost annoyed expression.

"Elf, what are you doing!?" Spyro demanded in concern as he watched Cyrus and Stealth Elf's exchange.

"Don't. Touch. Me." Stealth Elf hissed at Cyrus, still holding her dagger at his neck while giving him a loathing glare.

However, Cyrus spoke calmly, not glaring back or moving. "There is a reason I wanted _you_ to come on this little trip." Cyrus started. "You can teleport considerable distances and bring people along with you. That's quite useful in a situation where a great distance needs to be crossed in a short amount of time, don't you think?" He asked her, tiling his head slightly to the right and giving her a smile, even if he didn't mean it.

"Stop doing that." Stealth Elf hissed. "I hate it when you do that."

At that, Cyrus raised an eyebrow. "You can tell? Huh…" Cyrus said as he let up his forced smile. "I guess I need more practice." He said as he slowly used the claws on his left paw to move Stealth Elf's dagger away from his neck.

"Guys, are we all calm?" Spyro asked, trying to prevent any more agresion. "Now, Cyrus has a point, Elf. You can make this a lot easier if you teleport us around." Spyro spoke to his friend in a soft voice. "Can the whole hating each other, business wait until we finish the mission?"

"I don't hate her." Cyrus said simply. "I have no reason too."

"And why is that?" Stealth Elf asked dangerously.

"Alright, so that's a _no_." Spyro groaned under his breath.

"I could tell you." Cyrus began responding to Stealth Elf's question. "But you're a smart girl." He said, trying his best to hold back smiling once again. "Figure it out."

Stealth Elf looked like she was about to move once again, but before she could, Spyro's voice made her stop. "That enough!" He roared. "We need to rescue Cynder and stop Omen, not fight over grudges!"

Stealth Elf still looked like she wanted to choke Cyrus, but she held herself back, and as she lowered her head after a long sigh, she spoke, stretching out her arms for the two dragons to grab a hold of. "Let's go."

At that, Cyrus and Spyro stretched out their paws and grasped Stealth Elf's forearms before she teleported away, bringing the two dragons with her.

* * *

Spyro felt as he touched down once again. He looked around him to see where he and his companions were at. The floor they were all standing on held a set of elegant chairs and gargoyle statues. The statues on this floor were made of gorgeous silver. And according to Cyrus that meant they were getting closer.

"Alright, Elf!" Spyro cheered. "Just a little more!" He said as he looked over to his friend.

However, when he did, Spyro noticed that Stealth Elf's face was contorted with strain. Her brow was furrowed and she was breathing a little heavily.

"Elf? Are you alright?" Spyro asked caringly.

"I'm not used to teleporting so far away, so often and with other people." Stealth Elf stated. "It's a lot harder than I thought it'd be, but I think I can get us all the way up to the golden floors." She stated.

"Great, then let's go." Cyrus said simply.

"Cyrus, please get off her back." Spyro growled. He was happy to have Cyrus with him, but he wasn't about to let him walk over his friends either.

At that, Cyrus just rolled his eyes and shook his head sideways but, he remained silent.

"It's alright." Stealth Elf picked up. "I'm ready." She said with a firm nod.

Spyro was a little reluctant to allow his friend to strain herself so much, but he assumed they didn't have a choice. The Skylands were at stake. Then, after a deep breath, Stealth Elf teleported, bringing Spyro and Cyrus along with her.

As Spyro felt himself touch down once again, He again took a look at the room they were at, focusing on the gargoyle statues. To his relief, the mildly frightening statues were made of a splendid, shimmering gold. They were getting really close and Spyro could feel himself smile from the thought of being able to put an end to this whole mess.

However, Spyro felt as something tugged at his paw. He turned his head around and focused on Stealth Elf. When he did, Spyro felt dread claw at his heart. Stealth Elf had slumped to her knees and had weakly let go of Spyro and Cyrus' paws.

"Elf!" Spyro called, frightened by his friend's sudden ailment.

But then, Spyro felt as something round and made of metal crashed violently against the side of his head, making his ears ring. The next thing Spyro felt was the cold stone floor press against his body.

"Well, that sucked." Spyro groaned as he slowly tried to get on his feet and get a look of what had happened.

As he lifted his head, Spyro saw a large, burly cyclop, clad in black spiky armor and helmet, holding in one hand a round mace. Spyro was ready to fight the large enemy in front of him, but just as he was about to release a fireball at the one-eyed threat, Spyro felt something hit the back of his head. The impact made him fall to the ground, disoriented and in pain. Spyro slowly looked behind him to see that there was another burly cyclop, similarly equipped to the first, grinning widely at the fallen dragon.

Apparently Spyro had been to caught up caring for his friend to notice the cyclops and now, they had caught him by surprise. Spyro then turned his head toward the first cyclop, who now held his mace over his head, about to swing it down on Spyro's head. But, just as Spyro was about to brace himself for the incoming blow, he managed to see Cyrus, suddenly pounce the large cyclop in front of Spyro from behind, startling the one-eyed creature. Then, Spyro saw as Cyrus opened his jaws wide, revealing the black insides of his mouth, as well as his sharp teeth before he took a ravenous bite, aimed at the cyclop's neck, one of the few parts of the creature that was not covered in spiky armor.

With a loud howl of pain, the cyclop Cyrus had bitten dropped his mace behind him. It looked like it wanted to try and get Cyrus off of his back, but as the indigo dragon keep biting down, the color drained from the cyclop's green face and his bulging eye slowly rolled back into his head. Then, the large creature slumped forward, cueing Cyrus to release his bite.

Spyro noticed that Cyrus' green eyes were lit up with a deranged fervor, the kind that made it outright painful to look at him in the eyes. Then, Cyrus raised his head and stared right at what Spyro guessed was the cyclop behind him. "Boo." Cyrus hissed, the toxic rage in his eyes fixated on the cyclop, who had remained paralyzed throughout the whole event.

After a few seconds, Spyro saw as the large cyclop slumped to the ground beside him. The one-eyed creature had his tongue sticking out and his eye closed. "You win." He said, doing a _blerg_ sound afterward with it's eye still closed. Once it finished speaking, it stuck it's tongue out once again, playing dead.

At that, Spyro slowly began to get up, the riging in his ears still not quite gone.

"Are you alright?" Cyrus asked suddenly, stretching out his paw to help Spyro up. The deranged look in his eyes dissipated.

Spyro was a little surprised by this. Cyrus had never struck him as the caring type. "Yeah, I'm good, Impenetrable scales." He said, smiling. "Thanks." Spyro added as he took his brother's paw and got on his feet, which made Cyrus give him a small smile and nod. "But… how is Elf? He picked up, looking for his friend.

"I'm fine too." Stealth Elf answered. Spyro noticed that she had just gotten up from the spot she had had her burnout. "But I really don't think I can take us up another flight."

"You don't have to." Cyrus began. "We're two floors away from the top." He stated

"Alright!" Spyro exclaimed with excitement. "We're almost there! Elf, can you run up the steps?" He asked, energy building up in him.

"Yeah, I'm not out of the game yet." Stealth Elf responded.

"Alright, then." Spyro picked up. "We're just going to rush through. Like Cyrus said, we're running out of time." This made Spyro's companions begin getting ready for a long sprint upward. "Everyone ready?" Spyro asked.

"Yes." Stealth Elf responded.

"As I'll ever be." Cyrus replied.

"Okay." Spyro began, taking a deep breath himself. "Let's do this." He said as he took flight off the ground and up through the spiraling stairway, closely followed by his companions.

As Spyro flew up through the last few floors, he managed to see a few different cyclops loitering in the circular rooms they were in. Some looked like wizards, others were like the burly enemies Cyrus had just defeated and there were many smaller cyclops. When the three companions rushed through the cyclops, the one-eyed creatures reacted rather quickly, immediately focusing on the two dragons and the she-elf sprinting past their defences. They fired orange beams of energy and spears, but they were dodged by Cyrus and Stealth Elf while Spyro simply brushed them off thanks to his scales.

Then, when Spyro and his companions crossed through the last stretch of the spiraling stairway, they were faced with a rather different layout than the previous rooms. As they all rose through the stairway, they were faced with an oblong room that had a set of straight stairs that led to what Spyro guessed was the top of the towers and either Cynder's cell or Omen's ritual chamber.

Spyro then used his wingas and rushed up the stairs and rose to what he hoped was the last floor. When he did, Spyro was faced with a featureless brick wall. So, Spyro quickly turned to his sides in search of a way to progress. To his left there was yet another featureless wall, but to his right, was a passageway that led around the circular edge of the tower. Not wasting any time, Spyro moved to rush through, but he felt something grab his shoulder.

"Spyro, hold on." Cyrus' voice called. "We should stick together." He said as Stealth Elf joined them as she walked up the stairs behind them.

"Yeah…" Spyro began slowly. "Yeah, you're right." Spyro agreed. He felt a little riled up, but he slowly regained his cool. "But, what about the cyclops?" He asked, confused at the absence of enemies.

"They just stopped chasing us after we got here." Stealth Elf explained. "Wouldn't know why."

"Well, I guess we should be happy they aren't chasing us anymore." Spyro said as he touched down on the ground. "But we still need to get going, so come on." He said, gesturing his companions to follow him as he began running through the passageway in front of him which curved widely, as if surrounding a large circular chamber.

As Spyro reached the end of the passageway, which opened up to a small space with a wide archway before a wide, arching stone bridge, which connected to another tower several meters away. Spyro noticed that the other tower was pretty much identical to the one he was standing on. It was huge and had a wide archway that allowed Spyro to have a look inside of the tower. There was a single red door with a simple silver handle on the the curve of the circular chamber within tower.

Spyro then noticed that the sky was getting really dark. Although compared to the dark grey skies of the Outlands it was difficult to notice, Spyro could see that the sun was getting dangerously low, signaling that their time was running out. "Cyrus, is that where Cynder is being held?" Spyro asked as he turned around to face Cyrus and pointing at the distant tower.

"Yes. That's where Omen would have put her." Cyrus answered. "Since this-" He gestured at the door on the chamber within the tower he and Spyro were on. "Is his ritual chamber." He stated.

Spyro reacted at that declaration. He then looked at the door in the circular chamber behind him. The door was quite strange, for it had two, mismatching handles. One was a red doorknob and the other was a blue doorhanle, both placed at opposite ends of the door. The door itself looked like it was made of what looked like several chipped door parts. There were bits of smooth painted wood, bits of rusty metal and even a few bits of tinted plastic making the door's surface.

"Well in that case." Spyro began. "We need to hurry." He said as he hurried over to the tower across the arching bridge.

The bridge was rather large, so it took Spyro a few moments to reach the other tower, moments in which he could feel his heard pound against his chest, for he knew who was just a few meters away. He yearned to see his friend, to see Cynder once again and the thought of her being so close was difficult to properly handle. After how they had left things between them, how hurt they both had been, Spyro really wanted to show her how he really felt about her. So, as he reached the red door, he called her name.

"Cynder!? Are you in there!?" Spyro asked as he tried to open the red door, however,he noticed that the silver handle was unmoving under his paws, which made him struggle harder to try and open it.

"Spyro?" A faint voice asked, muffle by the red door. "Is that you?" The voice asked again, closer this time.

"Yes! Cynder it's me!" Spyro answered. "We're going to get you out of there, just wait and back away from the door!" He explained.

"But how? The door doesn't budge!" Cynder said. "I already tired knocking it down and it was no use!"

Spyro's mind started racing, trying to come up with a solution to this problem. Then an answer came. "Wait here, I'll get someone who can help!" Spyro said reassuringly.

Afterwards, Spyro turned around and headed backward to find Cyrus. The indigo dragon had already used his flames to burn through a similar door, so Spyro thought he would be a reasonable call for help. "Cyrus! Help me get this door open!"

"On my way." Cyrus responded as he flew over to where Spyro was. The indigo dragon was followed by Stealth Elf as both of them crossed the huge bridge.

Once Cyrus had made his way across the bridge, he made his way past Spyro and got in front of the red door Cynder was behind while Stealth Elf stopped beside Spyro. Cyrus then tried speaking to Cynder. "I'm going to fire a small bolt of fire at this door." He explained slowly. "There is a good chance it'll go right through, so back away until I open it."

"Wait, who is that?" Cynder asked through the door.

"Cynder, don't freak out." Spyro began. "But… we have Cyrus here with us."

"Cyrus!?" Cynder asked suddenly.

"Yes, Cyrus. My brother?" Spyro began speaking soothingly. "Look, it's a long story and we are a little short on time, so… just trust me." He pleaded softly, placing one of his paws on the red door, trying to reach out to Cynder.

There was a brief pause, but, Cynder answered. "Alright, I trust you."

Spyro could feel himself smile from relief. Then, backing away from the red door and giving Cyrus a clear shot, Spyro spoke. "Cyrus, you may fire when ready." He said in an overly dramatic way.

"Aye, aye captain." Cyrus answered, playing along lazily. After a short breath, the markings on Cyrus' chest flashed green and then the indigo dragon released a small bolt of flames at the red door, which, just as he had predicted, burned right through, scorching a hole through the smooth red door.

Afterward, Cyrus coughed briefly, but harshly, small puffs of smoke emanating from his mouth as he scratched his throat. "She should be able to get out now." Cyrus stated simply in a slightly raspy voice before turning his head toward Spyro. "We should try to leave as quickly as possible though. It's almost a miracle we didn't find the Knights of Solitude or Enumat on this-"

Cyrus was suddenly interrupted. Spyro saw as a large, purple fist slammed against the side of Cyrus' head, sending him sprawling through the air and making him crash against the brick wall and land on the ground to the left of where Spyro was standing. The whole thing had happened so quickly, so unexpectedly, Spyro couldn't react properly. He could only stare in awe at his brother's fallen body, slowly turning his head toward the huge, armored figure now in front of him.

"I've daydreamed of doing that since I met him." The figure admitted, it's head facing Cyrus, before it slowly turned toward Spyro. "I gotta say, it felt just as good as though it would." Enumat added, a cruel grin spreading across his face.

"Ouch." Cyrus' voice sounded suddenly. The indigo dragon had remained on the floor. "I thought you and I were friends, pal." He asked in a mock hurt voice as he slowly tried getting on his feet.

"Enumat." Spyro started up, backing away from the hulking cyclop and getting into battle pose, imitated by Stealth Elf. "You should have taken the day off buddy."

"I would give you a slick comeback." Enumat began. "But… The boss want's a word." He said simply.

Then, Spyro felt as something that felt like a vice with six teeth slammed against and surrounded the back of his neck. Spyro then felt as he was pulled through the air at inmense speeds, the sight of Enumat, Cyrus and the red door Cynder was behind rapidly growing away. Then, Spyro felt the vice let go of him, making him crash roughly with a loud thud on a smooth, cold surface.

Spyro groaned and slowly tried to gain his bearings. As he looked down on his new standing, he noticed the floor he was under was made of shimmering gold so flawless, he could see his reflection on it. However, upon closer inspection, Spyro noticed that he was standing over a strange pattern, carved onto the golden surface. It was a circle surrounding a symbol, one he was familiar with. Two, four point stars, one larger than the other, overlapping each other. The symbol of the element of Magic, his element.

Spyro then turned around and took a look at the room he was in. There was a lot of information to take in. However, something immediately called his mind's focus, overwhelming Spyro's immediate interest for anything else. Stealth Elf was laying on the floor near the middle of the room, groaning as she too tried to get up on her feet. So, almost instinctively, Spyro went to try and get her up.

"Thanks, Spyro." Stealth Elf said as her friend helped her to her feet. "Where do yo- _Whoa_!" Stealth Elf suddenly backed away from Spyro and got into battle pose, looking intently at something behind Spyro.

"Elfy?" Spyro called confused. He then began turning around, to see what had startled Stealth Elf. "What's the mat- _Whoa_!"

As Spyro turned around, he understood Stealth Elf's reaction perfectly. Standing completely still all across the room, but with their many pairs of round, empty, glowing eyes were fixated on Spyro and Stealth Elf, the Knights of Solitude surrounded the Skylanders. Each one of the pitch-black dragons was standing idle over a patterned circle, Similarly to the one Spyro had landed on. However, Spyro noticed that, beneath each of the dark dragon's feet was a very different symbol, each, Spyro guessed, related to their corresponding element.

Orange Eyes, was standing over what to Spyro looked like a thick gear, the symbol of Tech. Brown Eyes, who was standing right beside him, was much larger than the rest of the dragons, so it covered the symbol it was standing over completely, but Spyro guessed it would be a mountain, the symbol of Earth. Green Eyes, who was standing across the room from the first two dragons, was standing over the carving of a tree, the symbol of Life. Blue Eyes, was standing to it's left, and over what looked like a water droplet, the symbol of Water. To Green Eyes' right, stood Red Eyes, over a symbol that appeared to depict a flame, the symbol of Fire. Finally to Blue Eyes' left, stood Cyan Eyes, who stood over a the image of a swirling breeze, the symbol of Wind.

However, there were two circles that remained unoccupied, the one Spyro had landed on, which separated Brown Eyes and Red Eyes and one behind where Spyro was now standing, which separated Cyan Eyes and Orange Eyes. That circle depicted the image of a skull, the symbol of Undead. Putting two and two together, Spyro realised who those spots were being held for.

But suddenly,a hideous voice, like metal gears grinding against each other, sounded across the entire room, not coming from anywhere, but sounding as if it was right beside Spyro. "Four… Hours…" The voice entonated, sounding distorted and unrecognizable. "I waited for you… for _four_ hours." The voice stated, becoming dreadfully familiar. "Do you know what Breathless Hollow is like boy? I picked that spot because I thought it sounded cool, because I thought it was an appropriate place to finish our little hero-villian routine, like in the comic books!" Omen's voice solidified. "But guess what!? It was cold, it was dark, it was overrun with mosquitoes and two hours in, it started raining." Omen listed, his sourceless voice making it impossible for Spyro to track him down. "And guess what boy!?" Omen asked, in an inviting and joke-like, yet still dangerous voice.

Spyro then felt a rough wooden hand grab the back of his neck tightly and lift him off the air. Spyro exclaimed from surprise as he was pulled through the air by Omen's wooden hand, which came to a sudden stop, holding Spyro in mid air, a few inches away from the bizarre villain's smoking, cage-like head.

"I had to wait there…" Omen began slowly, quietly as his glowing purple eyes fixated on Spyro's altered red eyes. "For. Four. _Hours_!" Omen roared, his horrible disembodied voice making Spyro wince and hiss in pain.

"Didn't catch a cold, did you?" Spyro asked meekly at the deranged villian, smiling innocently.

Then, Spyro felt as Omen's wooden hand dragged him across the air, putting him momentarily over Omen's head, before moving through the air so quickly Spyro was unable to tell what was happening until he felt the golden surface of the floor suddenly rise up to meet him in a painful embrace.

"Spyro!" Stealth Elf's voice cried as Spyro tried to get on his feet. "Are you okay?" Stealth Elf asked as she helped Spyro stand up.

"I'm fine, thanks Elf." Spyro said, silently thanking his impenetrable scales. "But I'm not sure we're going to be." He said as he looked up, at the floating humanoid shape that was Omen, slowly descending to level with the Skylanders.

"Oh believe me." Omen began, his stranger arm, made of three different colored strings and connected to a metal vice, began twitching and squirming in the air. "You two-" Omen continued, gesturing at Spyro and Stealth Elf with his wooden hand as his stranger arm divided into three smaller strings, each connected to a small metal pincer. "Are _not_ going to be _fine_ when this is over."

However, a strange sound, like a distant explosion shook the air around Omen the Skylanders. This made Omen's eyes curl slightly upward and narrow dangerously.

"And neither will you friends." Omen picked up maliciously, before using his three small arms to draw a large purple ring of light on the air to his left, which quickly darkened, creating a circular portal, and making dread find its way to Spyro's heart. "What do you say, people?" Omen asked out loud, not apparently to Spyro or Stealth Elf. "Let's go and properly greet our guests!" He said, snapping the fingers on his wooden hand.

At that, the Knights of Solitude all in perfect coordination, stopped looking at the Skylanders and instead focused on the portal their master had just created. Then, one by one, the dark dragons began to sprint toward the dark portal, disappearing as the crossed through. Once the last of the six dragons crossed through, the portal itself disappeared, making the dread in Spyro's heard grow. His breathing grew faster and his arms started shaking as he realized what Omen had done. He had sent the Knights of Solitude to kill his friends.

"Now then, _Spyglassss_." Omen began, hissing the nickname he had given Spyro. He then, stretching out his arms out and puffing his wooden chest out, spoke in a maniacal voice. "Let's see what you're made of!"

"Apart from Magic of course." He added quickly.

* * *

Cyrus ducked out of the way of Enumat's swinging fist, which buried into the grey brick wall where Cyrus' head previously was. Using the hulking cyclop's missed strike, Cyrus slid through Enumat's legs, stopping once he was behind the cyclop.

Once there, Cyrus channeled his magic, ready to fight against the oversized cyclop. Enumat then broke his hand out of the wall it was buried on and turned around to face Cyrus, a cruel grin on his face as he stared down on the indigo dragon.

"I never thought I'd see you again, ex-boss." Enumat began. "I'm glad I get one last chance to bash your head in." He said, slamming his fists together.

Cyrus did not respond, instead he kept his eyes on the cyclop, weary of any sudden movement.

"Alright, so we're doing this profesional style, then?" Enumat asked. "I trust you know all the rules?" Enumat asked as he pulled out a grey book from one of his back pockets and waved it in front of Cyrus.

The book was labeled in elegant gold letters, "The Rules of Fair Combat.". It made Cyrus' memory spark suddenly. Omen was rather fond of that book. He had made Cyrus read it several times. So, Cyrus noded, recognising what Enumat was trying to do.

"Alright then." Enumat began. "No chopping off body parts, no name calling and no hitting under the belt. Fair?" He checked, eager for a good fight.

"Fair." Cyrus agreed simply, tensing up from the anticipation of the incoming battle.

At that, Enumat gave him a small nod a few seconds before charging at Cyrus with great speed, leaving only a few seconds for him to react. But Cyrus was fast, he ducked again, which caused Enumat to trip and fall to the ground, opening him wide for a chance at a counter attack, which Cyrus took.

He channeled his magic and caused his paws to glow bloody red. Afterwards, he leaped into the air and slashed at Enumat's back with his razor-sharp claws. They sliced through part of the metallic shell that protected Enumat's flesh, but Cyrus didn't feel his claws cut meat, so he used his wings to back away from Enumat, as he tried to flip over and backhand Cyrus off of him.

Cyrus managed to escape the incoming attack, using his wings to remain out of Enumat's reach. This frustrated the cyclop, who tried jumping to the air, hand stretched out above him, trying to grasp Cyrus' tail. However, Cyrus had waited for Enumat to make a move like this. Using his tail as a whip, Cyrus lashed Enumat across his face, getting him off his balance and making him fall to the ground once again, now holding his flogged face in pain.

Cyrus wasn't one to let up a good opportunity. So he dove down, his paws glowing bloody red, ready to attack the cyclop once again.

However, when Cyrus began to quickly descend, he felt as a large hand slammed suddenly against his neck, cutting the air from his lungs. Enumat had taken a steady hold of Cyrus, catching him off guard. Then with a angry grunt, Enumat launched Cyrus to the side, sending him crashing through the red door he had just recently opened. Afterwards, Cyrus could feel himself land roughly on his side against the a smooth and cold surface. As quickly as he could, Cyrus tried getting on his feet and get a hang of where he now was.

He was in a large room, filled with elegant brown wooden chairs with red cushions. The door he had been flung through was now burst open and Enumat's armored figure was now crossing through, which made Cyrus tense up.

Enumat swayed his head to the sides, his neck cracking loudly as he did. He then raised his fists and got ready to charge against Cyrus once again. But before he could, Enumat was struck by something, something Cyrus was unable to see. But it must have been one powerful impact, for the hulking cyclop was brought to his knees after he was hit.

Once Enumat was bent down however, Cyrus could see where the impact had come from. Already in battle pose and standing behind Enumat, stood Cynder, the undead dragoness. She had a fierce look on her face as she kept her eyes on Enumat while he began to get up on his feet.

"That." Enumat began slowly. "Was cheating." He stated.

"There's no rules to fighting." Cynder said unapologetically.

At that Enumat gave out a scoff and looked at Cyrus, pointing at Cynder with his thumb. "No rules, she says."

"And they say us bad guys have no honor." Cyrus sighed with his enemy.

"Hey! Whose side are you on!?" Cynder asked, apparently not very trusting of Cyrus yet.

Suddenly breaking the calm moment, Enumat dove his right hand into the large purple crystal on the middle of his black chestplate. It went through, not cracking the crystal, but rather allowing him to reach inside of an international pocket, from which Enumat pulled out a thick, crystalline handle, that stretched out as Enumat continued to draw out a long weapon from his chest. After a few moments, the hulking cyclop was now wielding a huge crystalline hammer, that glowed in unison to the purple gemstones on his chestplate and helmet.

"Well, if you're gonna cheat." Enumat began, bouncing the head of his hammer on his hand. "I'm gonna cheat too." He said maliciously.

Afterwards, Enumat raised his hammer over his head and slammed it on the floor beneath him, sending a powerful shockwave throughout the room and getting Cynder and Cyrus off their balance.

Cyrus then saw as Enumat lifted his hammer and began moving to do a circular spin with his hammer, apparently aiming to slam it against Cynder. For a second, Cyrus was afraid for the violet dragoness' life, however, Cyrus then saw as Cynder turned into a dark, misty silhouette of herself, and phased right through the incoming attack, unharmed. But then, once she was out of immediate danger, Cynder resolidified and released a burst of lightning, which crashed against Enumat's chest, causing him grunt in pain and stumble backwards.

Seeing an opportunity, Cyrus rushed at the stumbling cyclop, and with a swift slide, Cyrus used his tail to knock one of Enumat's legs off the ground, ruining his foot stance and causing him to land roughly on his back. Cyrus, didn't plan on letting up. He jumped onto Enumat's chest and called his magic, making his paws glow red before he began slashing at Enumat's head with his claws, making him try blocking the dragon's attacks with one of his hands, while keeping the other on his hammer.

Then, with a loud roar and a sudden burst of might, Enumat suddenly got to his feet, knocking Cyrus off him, making his stumble on the ground. After this and once he regained his battle stance, Enumat raised his hammer over his head, battlelust shimmering behind his white pupil as he swung his hammer down, aimed to crush Cyrus skull. However, Cyrus was fast enough, _just_ fast enough. He rolled out of the way of the incoming swing, which crackerd the dark floor beneath it, but, like a frenzied whack-a-mole player, Enumat immediately lifted his hammer and repositioned himself for another attack. With seconds to react, Cyrus backed away, using a burst of his wings to evade Enumat's non-stop string of attacks as the cyclop chased Cyrus through the room.

"A little help!?" Cyrus invited Cynder desperately as he dodged out of the way of another one of Enumat's hammer.

"Oh, sorry." Cynder apologies nervously, before she flew up into the air. Once there, the tips on her wings and the mark on her forehead began to glow an intense white, before she released a stream of blue lightning. which connected to Enumat's back, releasing a powerful electric shock on the cyclop, causing him to stop his onslaught on Cyrus as he convulsed briefly, shocked, in more ways than one.

Cyrus took a moment to have a breather, slightly exhausted from Enumat's dangerous chase. While he did, Cyrus saw as Enumat began to turn around, facing Cynder. Enumat then held his hammer to his side, and lowered his body slightly, his head facing Cynder as his body tensed up. Cyrus realised what he was about to do, so he cried out a warning.

"Watch out!" He shouted at Cynder, right on time for her to react.

Enumat then sprung off the ground, leaping at Cynder with great speeds, his hammer swinging horizontally, aimed at the dragoness' chest. However, thanks to Cyrus' warning, Cynder turned into a misty figure and dashed through Enumat's attack, as well as the cyclop's body. She then resolidified and landed on the ground, turning around quickly just as Enumat began to descend from his leaping attack. Without a moment wasted, Cynder released yet another burst of lightning at Enumat's back, which once again caused the hulking cyclop to fail at sticking his landing.

"Stop doing that!" Enumat roared as he quickly got to his feet, frowning menacingly and baring his two sharp fangs. "It's not fair if I can't hit you!" He complained at Cynder's nifty power.

"It's not her fault you're a mess, man." Cyrus spat with a small grin as he walked up to Cynder, who took a small step away, still not fully comfortable with Cyrus' presence.

"Shut up!" Enumat roared. "I am Enumat! The leader of the One-Eyed Legion! I won't be defeated by two overgrown lizards!" He declared, rage and battlelust flaring in his bulging eye. The large crystals on his armor and his weapon pulsated with sinister light, as if to mirror his newly bolstered murderous intent.

After the display, Enumat grasped the hilt of his hammer from near the edge and began to spin, dragging the weapon's hed through the floor behind him. As he continued spinning, faster with each rotation, the hammer began to rise off the ground, gaining dangerous momentum. Then, after a few seconds, Enumat released the hilt of his hammer, and the crystalline weapon shot out through the air at incredible speeds, aimed directly at Cyrus and Cynder.

Cyrus flopped to the ground, pressing his chest against the stone floor to avoid the devastation attack Enumat had launched. On the other hand, Cynder simply turned to black mist as the hammer shot right through her, crashing violently and loudly against the wall of the room behind her and Cyrus. The weapon was now buried almost halfway into the wall, a massive web of cracks expanding from where it's head was buried.

"Woah, that looked dangerous." Cynder said in an impressed tone as she solidified and turned around to see where the weapon had landed.

But, as Cyrus lifted his head to see what had happened, he was greeted with a very unpleasant surprise. The indigo dragon saw as Enumat charged at Cynder, who was distracted by the effects of Enumat's first attack to notice the hulking cyclop ball his right hand into a fist and pull it back behind his head. Just as Cynder began to return her attention to Enumat, it was too late. Cyrus saw as Enumat slammed his fist against Cynder's chest, making the dragoness bend over around it before being sent sprawling to the wall beside Enumat's buried hammer.

As Cynder collided against the wall and then, fell to the ground, Cyrus could tell she had been knocked out. As he saw her laying unmoving on the floor, Cyrus felt a sense of dread crawl onto his spine. However, Cyrus was suddenly feeling something quite different, something reminiscent of a large hand clasping shut around his neck and squeezing tightly. Before he could properly gasp for air, Cyrus felt himself be picked off the ground and be slammed against a cold stone surface.

After a few seconds of trying to get his bearings, Cyrus understood what his position was. He was being held against the wall of the room, held tightly by the throat by Enumat, who looked at him with a deranged glare.

The cyclop's breathing was labored, which made him exhale through his mouth, blowing a foul smell right at Cyrus' nostrils. But after a few seconds, Enumat spoke between tired breaths. "I… win… I… win." He repeated, slightly lowering Cyrus, almost to chest level, perhaps out of exhaustion.

Cyrus gave Enumat a simple stare, not of rage or hatred, nor of fright or despair, something Cyrus assumed greatly confused the Cyclop, because he stared back at Cyrus with an awkward expression, tilting his head to the side and furrowing his brow.

"What's… wrong?" Enumat breathed. "Can't you tell I beat you?" He asked, his voice growing steadier as breath returned to his lungs.

"Why…" Cyrus tried to speak, but Enumat's hand choked the rest of the words before they could come out of his throat.

This made Enumat growl and release the hold on Cyrus' neck slightly. "What? What are you saying?"

"Why… can't people tell…" Cyrus began slowly, hanging his head down. "When someone is trying to play nice?" He asked.

"Huh?" Enumat entonated, the confusion on his face suddenly doubling.

Then, without warning, Cyrus lifted his head and took a short breath. The six gashes on his chest flashed green and Cyrus released a ball of green and black flames, aimed at Enumat's chest.

The pain of releasing his flames made Cyrus hiss in pain and close his eyes. But after a few seconds, Cyrus forced himself to open his eyes and look at what his attack had done. Once Cyrus opened his eyes and faced Enumat, his eyes went round.

Enumat was looking straight at Cyrus with a glassy, unfocused look on his large eye. His grip around Cyrus' neck had grown weak and limp. As Cyrus lowered his head to where he had aimed his fireball, the answer to why this was the case, was revealed. Smoking still from the fresh burns, a wide, smoldering hole was carved on Enumat's chest, going all the way though, creating an exit wound on his armored back.

Enumat lowered his head to see the brutal wound on his chest. After looking at it for a few seconds, he lifted his head and looked at Cyrus once again, the same glassy look on his eye. "Well." He started up, a weak smile trying to find it's way across his face. "That was… the best one I've had."

At that, Cyrus saw as Enumat slumped to his knees, releasing the pressure on Cyrus' neck and letting him breath normally. Then, Cyrus saw as Enumat slowly slumped backwards, his bulging eye closed as he fell to the ground, stiff and wound Cyrus had given him was still smoldering, still eating away a little bit of him away.

"I don't think being a good guy is very healthy." Cyrus exhaled sharply, rubbing his sore throat as he stared at the now dead cyclop.

After a short moment however, Cyrus gaze wandered over to Cynder's fallen body. He felt concern weighed over him. He did not like the state Cynder looked to be in, so he slowly tried walking toward her fallen figure, trying to see what he could do to help.

However, something made Cyrus stop abruptly, halfway on is path to reach Cynder. Cyrus had heard a scream. A pained scream, from someone he knew. Then, after a few seconds, Cyrus heard the same voice scream again, making Cyrus react and involuntarily look over through the door on the room, which allowed him to see out of the room he was in and get a view of the second tower, from where the screams were coming from.

"Spyro…" Cyrus said, cold spreading through his body and his heart beating faster as he realized what was going on.

Spyro was facing off against Omen. Cyrus knew that was a fight he couldn't win, not in a thousand years. He had to help. Cyrus then moved to exit the room, but something nagged at his mind, stopping him halfway through. _"Cynder."_ He realized, looking behind him at the fallen dragoness. But then, Cyrus heard as Spyro gave out another pained howl from far away. Cyrus then started shaking, and suddenly placed his left paw over the red mark over his eye and started scratching it slowly increasing the speed of his scratching.

Cyrus realized with dread, quickly turning his head between Cynder's unconscious body and the tower Spyro's screams were coming from, that he had a choice to make.

* * *

Jet-Vac stood in his place, turning around and shifting from side to side to avoid incoming attacks from the cyclops he was gunning down. The senior Skylander's heart was pounding and his blood was roaring in his ears. He and his companions were firing their different projectiles at the many one-eyes enemies surrounding them.

Jet-Vac's gaze then wandered upward, at the massive outer wall of Maraino Castle, where he saw a small group of wizard-looking cyclops lift huge magnifying glasses in front of them. From these glasses, several orange beams of energy shot through the air, aimed at Jet-Vac. This caused him to yelp in distress as he rolled on the ashen ground, out of way of the incoming attacks.

"Malefor!" Jet-Vac called as he got up and shaked his head, getting the ash off of it. "A little help, please!?" He asked as he got to his feet and took aim at a small cyclop that charged at him. The Skylander fired a blast from his vac-gun and the one-eyed creature was knocked off his feet.

"How you Skylanders saved the Core of Light is beyond me." Malefor grumbled, not really bothered by the small clusters of cyclops swinging their weapons at the dragon king's legs.

Most of the one-eyed creatures' weapons actually broke when the struck Malefor's armored legs, leaving the small cyclops welding them, quite disheartened.

"Very well, let the fire clean after your incompetence." Malefore said, turning his head toward the cyclops dressed in wizard robes on the wall of the castle. After a short breath, Malefor released a massive fireball that incinerated not only the wizard-looking cyclops, but part of the wall they were standing on.

Actually, now that Jet-Vac looked at it, Malefor had done a really impressive number on the once imposing wall. The grey structure was now torn to pieces, many flaming blasts spread across it, leaving no room for any more lazer-firing cyclops to get a vantage point.

"Well, this is a lot more fun than fighting those big guys!" Jet-Vac heard Eruptor's voice shout. The senior Skylander turned his head to his left to see his fiery friend fire multiple firebolts at different cyclops as he made his way toward his friend. "I always liked dealing with lots of small guys instead of a few big guys." Eruptor admitted as he came to stop at Jet-Vac's side.

"Well, I think we're starting to run out of little guys!" A shrill voice, Jet-Vac identified as Pop Fizz' stated. As Jet-Vac turned around to see his friend, he could see as the blue Skylander hopped over to Jet-Vac and Eruptor.

Then, after taking a short glance around him, Jet-Vac noticed that, just as Pop Fizz had said, there was indeed a dwindling number of cyclops. The one-eyed creatures were no longer pouring out of their many tents inside Maraino Castle courtyard and although there were still quite a great many of them running around across the large, ash-covered field the large battle was taking place upon, they were being swatted away like toy soldiers by Malefor, who looked like he was having the time of his life, laughing malevolently and smiling broadly as he used his claws and tail to decimate the One-Eyed Legion's remaining troops.

"I must admit." Jet-Vac began. "This is going a lot better than I expected."

"I know, right!?" Eruptor shouted as he fired a volley of flaming projectiles at a small formation of cyclops that charged at him and his friends. "I thought this plan was going to be a huge bust, but hey! We're all in one piece!" He cheered.

But then, cutting Eruptor's cheer off, Jet-Vac saw as, out of thin air, a dark circle popped into existence. It's perfect, featureless darkness was ringed with purple light and strange, albeit familiar runes. Slowly, Jet-Vac recalled the last time he had seen such an abstract projection. He realized with dread, that what was in front of him, was one of Omen's portals.

But then, Jet-Vac noticed that something shimmered beneath the absolute darkness in the portal. Then, with great speed, a group of figures emerged from the portal. Their bodies as black as the mouth of the portal from which they had come from, the Knights of Solitude stood, all lined up neatly side by side, only a few meters away from Jet-Vac and his friends.

"Uh, oh." Pop Fizz whispered, tensing up and lowering his ears as he laid eyes on the Knights of Solitude.

"Oh, me and my big mouth!" Eruptor complained, as he got into battle stance and faced the lined up enemies in front of him.

"Everyone, stay steady!" Jet-Vac shouted as he raised his vac-gun at the dark dragons, who, as they usually do, stayed inexpressive and perfectly still, stareing blankly at the Skylanders.

But then, the Knights of Solitude shifted, putting Jet-Vac on edge. He saw as Red Eyes, Cyan Eyes and Orange Eyes lifted their heads in unison, aiming their emotionless stares at Malefor. Meanwhile, Green Eyes, Brown Eyes and Blue Eyes, all slightly lowered their bodies and took one step forward toward the Skylanders. Jet-Vac was able to understand what was going to happen. The anticipation making him plopped an egg.

Then, the six dark dragons moved in perfect coordination, all moving to their respective targets. Cyan Eyes, Red Eyes and Orange Eyes shoot up into the air, flying over the Skylanders and heading toward Malefor while the remaining Knights charged at the Skylanders.

Jet-Vac saw as Brown Eyes charged at Eruptor and Green Eyes charged at Pop Fizz, leaving Blue Eyes to face of against him. This prompted Jet-Vac to raise his vac-gun and aim it at Blue Eyes. Just as the fish-looking dragon leaped at Jet-Vac, intent on tackling him, the senior Skylander used his vac-gun to release a powerful air current at Blue Eyes, so powerful, that the dark dragon was cast backwards while still in the air, which made it crash roughly on it's side. Blue Eyes then started standing up, which made Jet-Vac react and fire multiple blasts of wind at the dark dragon.

However, Blue Eyes suddenly slid out of the way of Jet-Vac's projectiles, using a slippery mucus under its feet to slip out of harm's way. The dark dragon used its wings to boot itself as it slid through the ground, creating a gooey slip-n-slide for itself, which it used to quickly slide around Jet-Vac, making the senior Skylander get dizzy as he tried to follow the speeding dragon.

Then, Blue Eyes slid much closer to Jet-Vac. As it approached him, Blue Eyes released a short burst of electricity, which gave out after almost a second of leaving it's dark mouth, before using its wings to boost itself off the ground above Jet-Vac. However, the yellow current of electricity connected with Jet-Vac, which made him feel a surge of fittingly electrifying pain. It was brief, yet intense, however, Jet-Vac powered through, clenching his teeth and groaning loudly before he took aim at the dragon above him. He fired another barrage of wind blasts at Blue Eyes.

But then, Jet-Vac felt something large and rough slamm against the back of his head. The impact filled his mouth with a metallic taste and made his vision go cloudy. The blow was numbingly painful, even as Jet-vac slumped to the ground, landing chest-first on the ashen ground. Jet-Vac groaned as he tried getting up, using his arms to slowly lift himself off the ground. But then, he felt something put pressure against his back, which, in his disoriented state, made his arms give out and make him fall to the ground once again, the pressure on his back, preventing him from getting up.

Jet-Vac tried turning his head to see what had knocked him to the ground. As he did, he saw Brown Eyes' large head looming over him staring at him blankly, the large dark dragon using one of it's paws to press him against the ground. But then, Jet-Vac saw as Brown Eyes opened it mouth, and started to slowly lower it's head closer to Jet-Vac. The senior Skylander's heart started racing in panic as he realized what Brown Eyes was about to do. He tired squirming and kicking, gunting loudly as he tried to escape the slowly descending jaws, but the large dragon on top of him made getting away difficult. He was unable to move, unable to escape. He tired giving out a call for help, screaming at the top of his lungs as Brow Eyes' jaws were about to snap shut around his head.

But then, Jet-Vac heard someone shout. "Hey! Get off our friend!"

Afterwards, Jet-Vac felt as Brown Eyes started to shift above him, eventually stepping off of him entirely. This made Jet-Vac raise his head to see what had happened. He saw as Brown Eyes was being battered by flaming projectiles and exploding potions, courtesy of Eruptor and Pop Fizz.

Jet-Vac used this assault to get on his feet, turn around and join in, firing his own attacks at the dark dragon. This causes Brown Eyes to back away and try to evade any more attacks, but, as the focused assault from the Skylanders dispersed, the dark dragon fell to the ground, overwhelmed and knocked out by the fierce attack.

"Wow, thanks lads." Jet-Vac said, looking at the fallen dragon in front of him.

"Jet-Vac, focus please!" Eruptor's voice shouted angrily from behind Jet-Vac.

This made Jet-Vac turn around quickly. As he did, Jet-Vac had seconds to react to a spiked, yellow orb shooting right at his face. With a frightened yelp, the senior Skylander ducked quickly, avoiding the attack. He lifted his head to see the Green Eyes was now focused on him and fired another orb, exactly like the one Jet-Vac had just dodged. However, this one was shot out of the air by one of Eruptor's own firebolts, creating a smoky explosion mid air before the small dragon's attack could reach Jet-Vac.

Getting back into the swing of things, Jet-Vac took aim and fired three projectiles at Green Eyes. But then, Jet-Vac saw in awe as the small dark dragon vanished into thin air. Jet-Vac's projectiles instead collided with the ash covered ground, creating small grey clouds where they struck.

"That one can turn invisible?" Pop Fizz asked in disbelief.

This made Jet-Vac look over to his friend, who was flinging potions at Blue Eyes. The dragon in turn was firing bursts of water at Pop Fizz' potions, blowing them out of the air as the speedy dragon began secreting the slippery slime it had used to slide around and overwhelm Jet-Vac. This made the senior Skylander worry greatly. But it was when Blue Eyes started to use it's slippery slime to charge at Pop Fizz with greatly increased speed that Jet-Vac really started to feel dread. But then, Jet-Vac saw as Eruptor barfed a large puddle of bright lava in front of Pop Fizz, which in turn made Blue Eyes, suddenly stop it's sliding charge.

"Hah! We got you!" Pop Fizz said to the dark dragon, before flinging a strange potion at it.

The potion's beaker was slim and filled with a bright pink fluid. When the beaker crashed against Blue Eyes' face, it exploded into a mist of similar color to the potion it contained. Then, as the pink mist dispersed, Jet-Vac felt relief to see Blue Eyes laying still on the floor, eyes closed, knocked out.

"How do you like my knockout potion buddy!?" Pop Fizz taunted.

"That was brilliant Pop!" Jet-Vac exclaimed.

"Thanks!" Pop Fizz exclaimed as he turned around to smile broadly at Jet-Vac. "I took me a while to make that one!"

"Good work guys!" Eruptor cheered his friends. "That just leaves four to go!" He stated.

But then, something crashed roughly amidst the Skylanders, blowing up a small cloud of ash as it did. What had crashed in front of the Skylanders, was dark figure, that looked to have the shape of a dragon, but had several avian features, like feathers on its wings and tail, as well as what looked sharp enough to be a beak.

" _Three_ to go!" Malefor's gravelly voice corrected loudly. This made the Skylanders look over to the dragon king.

Jet-Vac saw as the massive dragon was releasing a huge stream of flames at the Knights of Solitude around him. As the dark dragons zipped through the air and avoided the flames, they instead hit very last remnants of the One-Eyed Legion, dispersing the remaining cyclops. The dark dragons meanwhile, were so small and fast, that they looked like pitch-black flies in comparison to Malefor. The two dragons were firing their attacks at the dragon king, striking him with black and white beams as well as dual orange lazers. And these attacks were causing the dragon king to growl and hiss in pain, as small scorch marks appeared over his dark scales whenever he was struck by the Knights of Solitude. Despite Malefor's ferocity, he was being overwhelmed.

"We need to help him." Jet-Vac stated, looking at Malefor and readying up his vac-gun.

"You said it." Eruptor agreed, taking aim at the Knights of Solitude flying around Malefor.

But then, with a strange hissing sound, Jet-Vac saw as Green Eyes materialized from thin air, tackling Eruptor and pinning him to the ground. The small dark dragon then fired a spiky orb point-blank at Eruptor's face, creating a small blast of smoke and light over the magma Skylander's face.

"Eruptor!" Jet-Vac and Pop Fizz shouted in shocked unison.

At that, Green Eyes took flight, rising up over the Skylanders. Then, Jet-Vas saw as two thin, black vines burst out of the dark dragon's back. From these vines a swarm of crackling sparks flew out, showing over the Skylanders. When these sparks fell over Jet-Vac, he felt like he was being burned by miniature chunks of coal. He exclaimed in pain as he tried to get out of the way of anymore of them falling on him. After a few sparks landed on Pop Fizz, he followed Jet-Vac's course of action almost exactly.

Afterwards, angry at Green Eyes for hurting his friend and covering him on painful sparks, Jet-Vac raised his vac-gun at took aim at the dark dragon above him. He was about to pull the trigger and fire, but something stopped him. A familiar voice.

"Regeneration powers, loser!" Eruptor's voice shouted suddenly with a loud laugh as Eruptor himself leaped into the air, fists flaming. The magma elemental then slammed his blazing fist into Green Eyes' chest, before slamming the small dark dragon on the ashen ground.

"I think we should stop worrying about you." Jet-Vac joked as he saw his flaming friend get off the fallen Knight of Solitude.

"Hehehe, maybe." Eruptor began with a small smile. "But we should start worrying about _him_." He said, pointing over Jet-Vac's shoulder.

Jet-Vac looked over to where Eruptor was pointing at. He saw Malefor, still struggling with the remaining Knights of Solitude and he instantly agreed with Eruptor. They had to do their very best and do their part of they wanted to put an end to this. So, arming himself with his last bits of strength, Jet-Vac charged at Malefor, ready to help in any way he could.

* * *

Spyro soared through the air, avoiding Omen's grasping hand behind him. The large golden chamber he and Stealth Elf were fighting the malevolent villian allowed him quite some room to maneuver.

Spyro dove and spun, rose and turned, doing everything he could to avoid the wooden hand chasing after him through the air. After a while, Spyro put an extra bit of effort and used his wings to boost himself even further away from the grasping limb. He then turned around and breathed in, calling forth his flames. Afterwards, Spyro released a large fireball at the dark wooden hand chasing him. The impact created a smoky explosion and caused Omen to give out a short grunt of pain.

"Hey, watch it!" Omen shouted. "That hand is one of my favorites!" He declared as he retracted the red string that connected the disembodied limb to his body.

Spyro was too focused to give any mind to Omen's antics. He quickly drew another deep breath and fired three flaming projectiles at Omen, one after the other. They flew through the air at great speeds as they got closer to Omen. However, Spyro then saw as Omen's wooden hand started glowing with a sinister purple aura before the villian moved the disembodied limb at great speeds. The wooden hand literally grabbed Spyro's projectiles out of the air, holding all three of the flaming attacks within its grasp.

Spyro gulped hard while a drop of cold sweat traveled down his temple as he saw the three fireballs merge into one in Omen's hand. The flames then slowly changed color from Spyro's trademark orange and red to an unnatural blue and white, a color scheme that seemed to follow Omen constantly..

Spyro then saw Omen whip his arm to fling the newly altered fireball right back at Spyro. The purple dragon quickly dived out of the way of the projectile, which instead crashed against the wall Spyro was previously in front of. The impact created a loud explosion which blasted a hole through the chamber's wall, allowing the grey sky of the Outlands to bee see from within the chamber.

"Man, I really don't wanna get hit by that do I?" Spyro joked nervously to himself as he kept his eyes on Omen.

"Spyro!" Stealth Elf's voice called him. "Keep focused!"

Spyro reacted and looked blow him, looking for his friend. He saw her teleporting out of the way of Omen's three small, pincer-like arms attempts to take a hold of her. She disappeared and reappeared rapidly, causing the three disembodied pincers to glide through the air without even grazing her. However, Spyro saw that she wasn't doing it on random. She was calculating the trajectory Omen's arms were going to take and reappeared accordingly. After a couple of moments, Stealth Elf had done something that truly impressed Spyro and made Omen roar in rage. She had caused the three small strings tange between each other, creating a bulging mess of knots and making it impossible for them to move any more.

"Hahaha! Way to go Elf!" Spyro cheered, genuinely impressed by his friend's work.

"Yeah, yeah, big whoop!" Omen shouted. "I have arms to spare! and I won't even be needing them anymore after I come here and _personally_ choke the life out of you!" He bellowed as the armored shoulder pad that connected his arm to his body popped off his wooden chest.

Then, using his remaining hand, Omen created a small portal in front of him, from which he pulled out a brand new arm. It was much larger and quite different than the one he previously had. It was made up by a thick grey chain, that connected a crude-looking winch, which Omen placed on where his shoulder used to be, and a large, silver fist, which was almost the size of a bowling ball.

"You won't be coming over at all, you monster!" Spyro snapped back, not willing to be intimidated by Omen's new limb. "We're going to stop you, and make sure you never do anything like this ever again!" Spyro declared.

Omen on the other hand looked at him with curled up eyes, a smug smile would have been on his face if he had a mouth. "Bold words for someone in smacking distance, boy." He said slowly.

Afterwards, Omen throwed his new hand directly at Spyro, who dodged out of the wiy by sliding to the left. However, when he did, Omen threw hie old hand at him as well. Spyro tired to duck out of way and managed to avoid the incoming attack. However, he failed to notice that Omen had began retracting his new arm and as the large silver hand retracted toward Omen, it took a hold of Spyro, gripping him tightly around his chest.

"Spyro!" Stealth Elf shouted as she saw her friend be dragged toward Omen.

"Haha, _ha_!" Omen laughed loudly as he drew Spyro close to his body. "I caught you, you purple weasel!" He taunted.

"Urg, let go!" Spyro shouted, calling his flames forth, releasing an orange fireball point-blank at Omen's head.

However, when the impact collided and dispersed, Spyro noticed that not even a scratch had appeared on Omen's head. Despite Spyro clearly hitting it, the cage-like head did not have even a miniscule scratch, making concern claw at Spyro's heart.

After Spyro's attack, Omen gave him a strange look, his eyes expressing disappointment as he shook his head sideways slowly. Then, Spyro felt as Omen's large silver had began squeezing him tightly, crushing him. The pain made Spyro cry out in pain as he felt his bones being bent under the immense pressure the metal first was applying.

"Let him go!" Stealth Elf shouted at Omen. "Let him go you living trash mound!"

"Okay sweetie." Omen started up, releasing the pressure on Spyro's body, which made him give out a short sigh of relief. "First off. _Trash mound_? That's just mean. And second, what are you going to do? Go cry to Ninjini?" Omen taunted cruelly. "Oh wait…" He added quickly, wryly.

Stealth Elf looked like she wanted to do some really un-Skylanderish things to Omen. She was shaking, gripping her daggers so tight her hands were draining in color and she was giving Omen a glare so overridden with rage it would have made Cyrus proud. But she held herself in place, slowly steadying herself.

"No." Stealth Elf said slowly. "I'm going to make her proud." She said, making Omen's eyes furrow with confusion.

Stealth Elf then took a deep breath and placed her hands together, closing her eyes as her expression became zen, calm.

"Ummm." Omen hummed in confusion. "Alrighty then." He said, moving his wooden hand to attack Stealth Elf.

"Elf, what are you doing!" Spyro shouted, not understanding what his friend was doing. He tried squirming futilely in Omen's metal grasp, not getting it to bud an inch.

Omen's wooden hand shot through the air at great speeds, balled up into a fist and aimed directly at Stealth Elf's face, who simply stood still, eyes closed and perfectly calm while Omen's hand got closer and closer. But then, just as Omen's hand was about to reach her, Stealth Elf opened her eyes and something Spyro didn't immediately understand happened.

Stealth Elf became a transparent green outline of herself, turning into something similar to what Master Eon looked like now. Then, Stealth Elf did a quick and graceful backflip, putting distance between herself and Omen's hand. But, as she did, Spyro noticed that a strange object materialized with a small burst of green mist, like the one that appears when Stealth Elf teleports. The object looked like a strangely made scarecrow which struck Spyro as quite odd. However, what really confused Spyro, was the fact that, through its chunky and ragged appearance, the scarecrow seemed to be designed after Stealth Elf herself. The straw hat it was using was dyed blue, like the elven Skylander's hair, the wooden sticks it used for arms ended in rusty blades, cheaply inspired by the ones the she-elf used and it was all colored in brown and green paint where Stealth Elf's clothes and exposed skin would be.

This scarecrow doppelganger of Stealth Elf had suddenly materialized between the, now transparent Stealth Elf and Omen's hand. As Omen's hand collided with the strange scarecrow, the whole thing exploded in a surprisingly violent blast of yellow flames which left behind a thick green mist, that completely engulfed Omen's wooden hand.

"Ahhh! What the what!?" Omen screamed, completely bewildered by the bizarre event.

Afterwards, Omen began retracting his arm out of the green cloud of mist. But, as he did, Spyro saw something that made him react.

"Woah! You blowed it up!?" Spyro exclaimed, truly amazed. "Elfy, since when do you have that much firepower!?" He asked, overjoyed at the fact his friend had such a cool ace up her sleeve.

"Yeah, this seems like something to warn people about!" Omen shouted as he drew back his wooden hand, which was nowerd charred and black as well as missing all of it's fingers, except the thumb, which was missing it's tip anyway. "I told you this one was one of may favorites!" Omen shouted as he looked at his mangled hand, a look of grief on his abstract face, as if he had just lost something valuable. "No matter!" Omen suddenly yelled, rage nearly instantly overriding his grief. "I'm still going to win this!"

At that, Omen did something Spyro did not expect. He let him go. The large silver hand taking a hold of Spyro suddenly loosened its grip, allowing Spyro to fall to the floor and quickly back away from.

"I don't think so pal!" Spyro shouted. "I think we've seen all of your little tricks already."

"I think we have." Stealth Elf agreed as she walked up beside Spyro, no longer looking transparent. "You on the other hand, haven't seen all we can do." She added, pointing at Omen with her daggers.

At that, Omen gave out a low, metallic growl. "Out of tricks, you say?" Omen hissed. "We'll just see about that." He said dangerously.

Then, Omen used his large silver hand to create another portal near him, from which he pulled out a new arm.

The new limb was made up by a deep blue string, just as thick as the red string from Omen's old arm. It had a rather similar shoulder to the old arm, except it was colored red instead of yellow. The hand looked to be made of a coppery material. Small electric sparks crackled across it's finger tips.

Then, Omen's old arm popped off his wooden chest, falling to the golden floor with a loud clatter. The villian then used his silver hand to place his new limb's shoulder on where his shoulder should have been. The limp sting and stiff hand suddenly came to life, floating on the air, emulating a functional arm. The sparks on the copper hand's fingers suddenly became more intense, creating small bursts of electricity as Omen flexed his brand new fingers.

Omen then raised his new arm over his head and extended his fingertips. Electricity crackled across the coppery hand and a low, electric hum began to grow slowly louder.

"Elf." Spyro called, a bad feeling crawling up his back. "Be on your feet."

"Yes!" Omen shouted, a deranged edge of joy on his metallic voice. "Do, do that please!"

At that, Omen slammed his coppery hand on the golden ground. Then, the electricity that had been building on Omen's hand was released across the floor. Gold, being an exceptional conductor, allow the massive electric discharge to travel at great speeds, reaching the Skylander's feet in split seconds.

Thanks to his scales, all Spyro felt was an uncomfortable tingle spread across his body, nothing he couldn't bear. However, Stealth Elf had no such protection, she got the full blast of Omen's potent electric discharge. She let out a horrible scream of agony as electricity coursed through her body. Afterward, Stealth Elf slumped to her knees, knocked out by the powerful attack.

"Elf!" Spyro cried as he saw his friend fall over the golden floor. His eyes went round and his mouth hung open from the dreadful surprise.

But then, Spyro felt something that jarred him out of his concern for his fallen friend. He felt as something like a miniature wrecking ball slammed against the right side of his body. The impact was so powerful, it didn't even hurt at first, it practically knocked Spyro out of his body. But the feeling of numbness didn't last long. The first thing Spyro was able to sense, was a sharp ringing in his ears, as well as the taste of iron on his mouth. Then, his vision returned slowly, covered by dark spots, preventing him from focusing properly.

He felt drowsy, almost knocked out so he couldn't really get a hang of what was happening, but through his battered senses, Spyro felt as something grabbed him by his throat and pulled him upward, holding him against a solid surface, pressing his back against it.

Spyro's senses were slowly coming back to him, so he was able to pick up a faint voice speaking to him. "It's over." The voice said simply. Spyro groaned as he tried focusing, the spots on his field of view dispersing slowly, his hearing slowly returning to him.

After a few moments of effort, Spyro was able to get a hand of what was happening. He was being held by his neck and pressed against the wall of the large chamber he was in by none other than Omen. The bizarre looking villian was stareing at Spyro intently, his coppery hand holding his neck tightly.

"You heard me?" Omen asked, making Spyro lift his head to look at the villain's purple eyes. "It's _over_. I have all my dragons! I have all I need to do my ritual!" Omen cheered, giggling maniacally to himself . "Do you know what I'm gonna do when I come over?" He asked Spyro, leaning close to his face. "I'm gonna pay another visit to your Academy. Oh yes. I don't think twelve year olds are allowed to hear the specifics of what I'm gonna do." Omen said, still giggling to himself. "But let's just say, there's going to be a lot of… _remodeling_." He finished, his eyes curling up and narrowing, expressing a deranged and malicious joy.

"And now, my little purple battery." Omen began, lifting his second arm, which made Spyro focus on it instead of the villain's face. "Because of your powerlessness and tough little scales, you are going to die." He said, making Spyro get chills as Omen's large silver hand balled up into a fist. "With a heavy heart and a bludgeoned head!" He said pulling his silver hand back behind his head, ready to punch Spyro to kingdom come.

But then, Spyro saw something that made his eyes go round from surprise.

Omen's silver fist, blew up. With a small but focused blast, the silver limb had gone up in smoke and cinders. Omen seemed to be just as surprised as Spyro, if not even more so, for the emotion being expressed by his purple eyes, was that of pure shock, if not outright fright.

"You're supposed… to be dead." Omen said slowly, paralyzed in front of Spyro, his voice smeared with something Spyro never thought he'd hear. Fear.

"You killed me so many times." A new voice spoke, coming from behind Omen, making it impossible for Spyro to see who it belonged to. "I guess I just learned how to walk it off."

At that, Omen, suddenly let Spyro go, dropping him to the ground, where he slumped back, still a little battered to move properly. However, from his lowered position, Spyro was able to see who had spoken, who had instiled such fear in Omen.

It was Cyrus. The indigo dragon stood, green eyes lit up and mouth smoking, on the entrance of the golden chamber, glaring at Omen, tensed up and in battle pose.

"No, no, no." Omen began mumbling, slowly raising his remaining hand over his head.

Spyro saw as Omen clasped his had shut, balling it up into a fist. However, nothing happened, which made the villian give out a confused yelp. Afterwards, Omen began to frantically open and closed his fist, whining fearfully as he did, as if something was meant to happen.

"Why doesn't it work anymore!?" Omen demanded, his voice shrill from panic.

Spyro then recalled a distant memory. The first time he had seen Omen do the same motion, raising his first over his head and expect something to happen was when he had tortured Cyrus right in front of Spyro, the day he had first met the surreal-looking villain. But, to both Omen's and Spyro's surprise, nothing happened. The red "A" over Cyrus' eye didn't start glowing beside Omen's fist and the indigo dragon didn't slump over or scream in pain.

Before Omen could get his answer, Cyrus swayed his head back as the six marks on his chest began to glow a venomous green. Then, swaying his head forward, Cyrus released a bolt of green and black fire right at Omen. The flames collided against Omen's wooden chest, burning right through, creating a smoldering hole on the abstract villain's body, crossing right through and dispersing only after crashing against the wall of the room.

"Ahhhh! Boy, wait!" Omen cried, waving his coppery hand through the air in front of him.

But Cyrus didn't heed his old master's command. He instead began slowly walking toward Omen, like a horror movie villian. Then with another flash of green from the black marks on his chest, Cyrus fired another bolt of flames, which destroyed the winch-looking shoulder that was connected to Omen's chain-like arm. This in turn made Omen give out another frightened yelp.

"Boy, I know you're mad at me!" Omen said nervously. "But let's not lose our heads here!" He said, trying to convince Cyrus to stop his attack.

But once again, Cyrus did not listen, still walking slowly toward Omen. He fired jet another bolt of flames at Omen, who then raised his remaining hand in front of himself, as if to stop the incoming projectile.

Spyro became concerned. He remembered Omen, being able to hold even energy based projectiles in his hands to return then with greater force. However, as Cyrus' green flames reached Omen's hand, they caused the metallic limb to detonate in a small blast of smoke and green sparks, similarly to how Omen's other hand had done.

"Ahhh!" Omen screamed once again. "Boy, Cyrus, my friend!" Omen stamedred. "Please, let's talk ab-"

Omenn was cut off by Cyrus suddenly pouncing on him. The indigo dragon landed on top of Omen's battered body and pinned it to the ground, looking over it like a beast that had caught fresh prey. He was looking right at Omen's eyes, unblinking.

Cyrus then, raised his head slightly, still keeping his eyes on Omen. Then, as the black marks on his chest glowed green and with a roar of rage and pain, Cyrus released a stream of green and black flames that flowed against Omen's cage-like head.

The air was then filled with a hideous scream, like microphone feedback. As Spyro winced, trying to cover his ears from the horrible noise, he deduced it had come from Omen.

Spyro then noticed that the screaming stopped and he looked over to Cyrus and Omen. He saw the indigo dragon still looming over Omen's fallen body. However, he noticed a couple of things that made his eyes widen from dreadful surprise.

Cyrus' was shaking, badly. The indigo dragon looked like he was having trouble keeping himself on his feet. But what really made Spyro worry about him was his face. His eyes were glassy and his brow was furrowed with strain and dark smoke, accompanied by faint green sparks was emanating from his mouth. Spyro could hear small, pained whimpers come from Cyrus's throat.

But worst of all, Spyro saw that Omen's head was still in one piece. The black smoke emerging from it was still going strong and the villain's glowing eyes still shone through the rusty bars. However, the bars on the cage did look quite damaged. They were all now covered in glowing green spots, like those that appear when a metal is superheated.

"Ha…" A simple laugh emerged from Omen's head. "Ha-ha!" Omen laughed, shakily, as if something he didn't expect had just happened. "Ha, hahaha! I wasn't sure this would work, but it did!" Omen shouted, his voice heightened by joyful disbelief. "This cage is made of Traptanium alloy! It's the same stuff Arkeyan Conquertrons are made of!" He boasted triumphantly. "Apparently, not even your fancy flames can burn through this so easily, huh boy!?" Omen asked mockingly, laughing loudly afterward.

Spyro felt dread claw at his heart. He knew that using his flames so much could really hurt Cyrus. By the state Cyrus seemed to be in, Spyro assumed he was at the end of his rope. He saw Cyrus, his brother, in pain, in a kind of pain Spyro himself couldn't imagine, pain Cyrus felt almost everyday. But what made Spyro feel truly wounded by his brother's suffering, was that he had to go through it by himself, entirely alone.

Spyro wouldn't allow himself leave his brother alone, not anymore, not after not being there for him for so long. So, mustering all his strength, all his willpower, Spyro stood up. He stood on his feet before slowly walking over to Cyrus. He walked over slowly, his wings dragging behind him as he did. Once Spyro was close enough, he positioned himself so that he was facing down on Omen and was side by side with Cyrus, who lifted his head to look at Spyro. A look of surprise could be seen beneath his agonized expression.

"Oh, what is this supposed to be?" Omen asked mockingly. "You know that if he breathes so much as another bolt of fire, he's going to burn himself out and die, right?" Omen asked. "So what are you going to do, hmmm? Are you going to hold hands now?"

At that, an idea came into shape at the back of his mind. "Yes." Spyro answered simply, making both Omen and Cyrus give him confused looks. "That's exactly what we're going to do." Spyro stated, stretching his paw out to Cyrus.

Cyrus looked at Spyro's paw, he then lifted his head to meet Spyro's eyes. The two dragon's stared at each other for a few moments. As they did, Spyro felt a strange feeling of trust grow in his heart, a feeling he could see grow in Cyrus' eyes as well.

" _You know what to do."_ Spyro said to Cyrus, not out loud, but instead giving him a small nod, accompanied by a soft, warm smile.

Cyrus looked taken back, his eyes widening even as his mouth hung limply, still releasing dark smoke. The indigo dragon looked as if he didn't know how to react properly to someone trusting him so fully. But he returned a small nod to Spyro, signaling he understood what Spyro wanted him to do..

Then, Cyrus stretching out his own paw, lifting it off Omen's body and moving it closer to Spyro's. Afterward, Cyrus grasped Spyro's paw tightly, as his own began to glow a bloody red.

Spyro felt the warmth be drained out of his blood, the air be sucked out of his lungs. He felt the life be slowly drained out of him, but he willed through. His face contorted in strain, closing his eyes and clenching his teeth, but he kept himself going.

After a couple of moments that to Spyro felt eternal, Cyrus let go of Spyro's paw. At that, Spyro felt the horrible sensation disperse and he started to take deep, rithmic breaths. He felt wobbly, weak at the knees, but he kept himself on his feet. Spyro then lifted his head and looked at Cyrus.

Cyrus was looking much better. His eyes were no longer glassy, his brow was relaxed and most importantly, something that made a little extra heat return to Spyro. Cyrus was smiling, an honest little smile that slightly curved his cheeks.

"Thank you." Cyrus said, almost in a whisper as he looked at Spyro.

Cyrus' green eyes were not filled with agony, not filled with rage. For the first time since Spyro had looked into those eyes, they were warm, they were pleasant to look into. As he did, Spyro noticed that something suddenly aligned in his mind. _"He kind of looks like her now."_ Spyro thought to himself, with a small smile of his own as he compared his brother's eyes to those he had seen on his mother's picture in that purple dragon tomb. The thought made him chuckle lightly.

But then, Spyro remembered they had something to do. He turned his head to Omen, who had remained rather silent during Spyro and Cyrus' exchange. His purple eyes were darting between the two dragons with great speed. They were round with panic and shaking slightly, almost as if he was anticipating something.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, Spyro saw Cyrus turn his head toward Omen. The indigo dragon looked at his former master, at the one who had put him through so much pain. His eyes were focused on Omen's, unblinking, their familiar poisonous sting coming back steadily.

"A-Alright boys." Omen began in a shaky, frightened voice. "C-Can we s-s-settle it over a C-Crypt Robber match?" He asked innocently, trying his best to make his eyes express anything other than fear.

But then, Spyro saw as Cyrus swayed his head back, the six black gashes on his chest glowing green as he held his breath, charging his flames. Then, with a mighty roar, Cyrus released a focused stream of green and black flames that crashed against Omen's cage-like head, causing the villian to give out a metallic wail of agony that made Spyro's ears ring.

Cyrus kept his flames going, not letting up his attack and after a few moments, his perseverance was rewarded. The cage Cyrus aimed to destroy exploded violently, cutting off Omen's screaming and sending both dragons tumbling back, falling on their backs on the smooth golden floor.

Spyro and Cyrus quickly lifted their heads to see what had happened. They saw as a small cloud of dark mist rose from Omen's battered body. The cloud shook and shifted, like a miniature storm being contained, but Spyro noticed that it was slowly growing smaller. After only a few seconds, the cloud disappeared peacefully, sinking into nothingness with a small popping sound.

Spyro looked at where the small cloud used to be for a few seconds. He kept his eyes on the spot, but nothing happened, the cloud didn't come back. So, he shifted his gaze to the battered pile of trash that used to be Omen's body. It didn't move, not an inch. In fact, Cyrus' flames were still smoldering across it, slowly burning it all to embers.

"Did we beat him?" Spyro asked slowly.

"I think so." Cyrus responded, keeping his eyes on Omen's fallen remains.

Spyro couldn't help but let out a short chuckle, the which echoed across the large chamber. Could it really be over? Could this whole mess truly have come to an end? Spyro didn't know how to react, he didn't know what to do, so, he did what he did best.

"Man, you really let Omen have it." Spyro said to his brother, chuckling again as he shifted his head toward the indigo dragon. "Why did you ever let him push you around if you could beat him this easily?" Spyro asked, meaning it as a praise-joke to relive his own disbelief.

"I could never have defeated him like this any other day." Cyrus stated, looking over to Spyro. "Firstly because of _this_ -" He gestured at the red "A" over his felt eye. The torture brand Omen had given him.

"Oh, right." Spyro said, deflating slightly. "But then, why didn't it work just now? It looks just like it did back when it worked." He asked confused, wondering if Cyrus had an idea for an answer

The indigo dragon paused briefly, looking for an answer in his mind. "What could have removed the magical properties of the brand?" Cyrus wandered, scratching his chin. After a few moments his eyes light up, signaling he had found an answer. "The potion." He said simply.

"What?" Spyro asked, not understanding what Cyrus meant.

"Remember the weird white potion that took away our magic?" Cyrus asked, jogging Spyro's memory. "It must have nullified the magic on the brand. While our powers returned, because they came from within ourselves, the brand's magic was simply washed away."

"Woah." Spyro began, surprised by how little significance he had given the foamy white potion the first time he interacted with it.

"But that wasn't all." Cyrus picked up. "You and your friend, helped too. When you destroyed his wooden hands." Cyrus stated. "Omen has many hands, each with a different power. He made those hands with the ability to counter magic, specifically to fight against me and my flames." Cyrus explained. "If you and your Skylander friends hadn't destroyed both of them, Omen could have just caught my flames and throw them back at me and there would have been nothing I could have done." Cyrus continued. "As hard as it is to admit." Cyrus started up, taking a long sight. "This was, a team effort, I could never had defeated him without your help." Cyrus finished, giving Spyro a small, yet honest and warm smile.

This made Spyro smile back widely, joy overriding his soul. He felt like his body was starting to react, uring him to move over to Cyrus and hug him as tightly as he could.

But he was cut off by Cyrus' voice as he raised a paw to stop Spyro. "You should go see your friend." He said, making Spyro freeze. "The undead girl, she's waiting for you." He said, gesturing at the tower across the large bridge outside of the chamber Spyro and Cyrus were in.

Spyro's eyes suddenly went round. He had almost forgotten about Cynder in the heat of his battle against Omen. In fact he had forgotten about Stealth Elf as well. The purple dragon suddenly looked around the chamber, searching for his elven friend. He found her, laying knocked out on the center of the golden room, staying still except for a small but steady breathing.

"I'll watch over her." Cyrus stated simply, making Spyro give him a wide eyed look. "I'll be nice, I promise." He said with a small eye roll. "Go see _her._ " He said, gesturing once again at the distant tower.

Spyro gave Stealth Elf one last caring look, before giving Cyrus a similar look. "Thank you." Spyro said, nothing else really came to mind, which made Cyrus give out a small chuckle.

Afterward, Spyro stood up on all fours and began sprinting toward the massive bridge to the other tower, his heart pounding against his chest as he did. As he began crossing the bridge, an endless stream of thoughts crossed his mind. _"What am I going to say? What am I going to do? How will she react? Does she even want to see me?"_ Were only a few of the many wild thoughts that raced through Spyro's mind as he ran through the massive bridge.

But then, they all disappeared, suddenly and without warning. His mind became focused on a single thing, shutting out everything else as he came to a sudden stop before reaching the middle of the bridge.

Spyro saw Cynder, standing a few meters away from him, near the middle of the bridge. She was standing still, just as he was, gazing back at him. Spyro looked at her, as she looked back at him, both of them staying in complete silence.

Then, something deep inside of his being, made Spyro react. The strange sensation made him move forward, slowly at first, taking individual steps before it drove him to a full sprint. To Spyro's surprise, Cynder was mirroring his own movement, rushing to meet him.

Spyro's heart was beating like a frenzied drum, growing faster and faster the closer the two dragons came to meeting near the middle of the bridge. Then, Spyro saw as Cynder came to a slow stop, standing on the middle of the bridge which she had reached first. Once there she waved at him and smiled widely. "Spyro!" She called, joy filling her voice.

At that, the sensation within Spyro ade him use his wings, boosting him forward. He was about to outright tackle Cynder, but instead, Spyro took a hold of her, crossing his arms around her back. But he didn't stop there, he used his wings to boost both of them off the ground.

Spyro couldn't hold back from letting out a joyful laugh as he rested his head on Cynder's shoulder while they both soared through the dark sky. He couldn't believe this was happening. He was holding Cynder in his arms once again and he felt how she was starting to hug him back, pressing her head on his shoulder, embracing him back tightly. He then was overwhelmed by how good he felt. He felt like he had been missing this. Although he was familiar with the tingling sensation Cynder's touch made him feel, and was quite familiar with the dragoness herself, Spyro felt as if he was experiencing all of it for the first time.

Using his wings to keep both of them in the air, Spyro could only feel _her_ , nothing else. He felt himself smile as the familiar warmth began to spread slowly from Cynder's body, flowing onto his, spreading from wherever their bodies met. This made both dragons tighten their holds on eachother, almost desperate for the warmth their embrace gave them. The sensation overwhelmed Spyro. He felt like he was being given a silent gift through Cynder's embrace, one he just felt like he had to show her how much he cherished.

So, slowly, he lifted his head off Cynder's shoulder, not letting go of her. This made Cynder do the same thing, lifting her head off Spyro's shoulder. Once she did, Spyro felt like his heart skipped a beat. Cynder smiled up at him as Spyro stared into her eyes, her warm, cerulean blue eyes, which stared back at his own.

Spyro was then overwhelmed. He couldn't hold himself back another second. He had to tell her, to _show_ her all she was to him.

So, closing his eyes and moving before he could think twice, Spyro gently thrusted his head forward, and he felt as his lips connected with Cynder's in a gentle kiss. It started off slow, with just their lips pressing against each others, as if both of them were surprised by what was happening, not really sure of what to do. But, soon enough, they just let go.

Spyro kept his eyes closed as he kissed Cynder, his senses overloaded with what he was experiencing. He could feel himself slowly caress her lips with his, slowly enjoying the sweet taste of her mouth. He could feel her heartbeat from how close she was, he could feel the texture of her scales beneath his paws as he moved them soflty through her back.

After a few moments, Spyro lowered himself and Cynder back to the ground, gently touching down on the grey bridge beneath them, their kiss slowly coming to a stop.

Spyro kept his eyes closed, his forehead pressed against Cynder's as both of them let out short breaths, still holding each other tightly.

"Hehehe, I knew it." A slightly raspy voice chuckled lightly, making both Spyro and Cynder suddenly fling their eyes open.

Spyro quickly turned his head and saw Cyrus, standing across the large bridge he and Cynder were on. The indigo dragon was carrying Stealth Elf's still unconscious body on his back, all while he was grinning widely and rapidly raising and dropping his eyebrows, which made Spyro give him an irritated frown. However, the cherry red blush on his cheeks that accompanied it, only made Cyrus smile even wider and snicker through his teeth.

Then, shoving his big jerk of a brother out of his thoughts and shaking his head to get the red heat off his cheeks, he turned back to Cynder. They had let go of each other, and were now just looking into eachothers eyes.

Cynder smiled at Spyro and Spyro smiled back. "We did it." He said quietly. "It's over."

"Yeah…" Cynder began slowly. "It is."

* * *

Master Eon paced through the Academy common room. His ethereal body was pulsating with light from how many worried thoughts were running through his mind.

He worried about the Skylander's success on the mission, he worried about how Malefor and Cyrus would interact with the Skylanders and he worried about Spyro. How he would act around his newly found brother during a mission.

Eon also thought about how the entire Skylands might be at stake thanks to the threat of Omen. All these thoughtlines overlapped and tangled around each other, making it impossible for Eon to focus.

The ethereal portal master let out a stressed groan as he frantically stroked his beard, trying to cool himself.

"Eon, you should know by now that worrying won't do anyone any good." Kaossandra's voice called Eon.

Kaossandra was sitting behind Eon's old desk, rubbing her temples while she had her eyes closed, evidently irritated at Eon's antics.

"But then what should I do?" Eon asked. "In this blasted form I can't help Spyro or the Skylanders. And with the stakes as high as they are I feel outright useless just staying here!" Eon grumbled

"I don't know Eon!" Kaossandra shouted slamming her fists on the desk before her. "I can't do anything either, you know!?"

Eon was taken back by Kaossandra's frustrated outburst. He was about to try and apologize but, a loud sound, which came from outside the Academy common room. Both portal masters looked at the blue main gates, then glancing at each other quickly before both of them rushed to the blue doors, eager to see what the noise had been.

Once Kaossandra opened the Academy gates, she and Eon walked out to the Academy courtyard. It was still rather beaten up from Omen's attack, but at least it wasn't on fire and littered with fallen Skylanders any more.

Eon scanned the scene in front of him, trying to locate what had caused the loud sound he had heard inside the Academy. It did not take him long to find it's source, and he was overjoyed when he found it.

"Spyro, everyone!" Eon shouted, waving widely and smiling from ear to ear as he saw the Skylanders arrive at the Academy all standing on the Portal Gates.

However, upon closer inspection Eon noticed quite a few alarming details. For one, Eon saw that Cynder was among the Skylanders. The violet dragoness looked to be quite alright, which made Eon let out a long, relieved sigh. However, Eon also noticed that there were quite a few more people among the Skylanders.

The new figures were completely unfamiliar to Eon and he could see that they all seemed to be carried on the backs of the Skylanders, as if they were all knocked out. The figures seemed to all have wings and tails and all looked quite different from each other. Once Eon began to focus on the unconscious figures, he felt like he knew them from somewhere.

"Master Eon!" Spyro's voice called, making Eon snap back into reality. "We need help! We have six wounded dragons here!" He shouted.

"Six dragons?" Eon asked confused. "Ohhhh." He entonated, coming to a sudden realization of who those figures were.

"They did it." Eon heard Kaossandra say, a tone of awe in her voice. "They defeated him."

As Eon looked at the Skylanders and came to an understanding of what had come to pass for them to have returned with Cynder and the Knights of Solitude as well, he smiled, pride overwhelming him.

"Yes, they did it." Eon said simply. "They succeeded, they saved the realm once more."

* * *

Almost a day had passed since Spyro and his friends had defeated Omen in the battle of Maraino Castle. He and his companions had quite a lot to sort out.

Firstly, was the Skylander's, mainly Cynder's, standing with Malefor.

After the undead dragon king assisted in getting Cynder back from Omen, he had planned to take his daughter back to the Underworld once again. However, Cynder had requested to have a talk with him alone, something that mildly worried Spyro when he heard his friend suggest it.

However, after an almost hour long daughter-father bargaining session, Cynder and Malefor had come to an arrangement. In exchange of letting Cynder become a Skylander, the violet dragoness promised to go back to the Underworld every friday to visit her father for Taco Night. Malefor took a little convincing, but was ultimately swayed. He had a soft spot for Taco Night. And so, as he used his undead magic to return to the Underworld, he and his daughter had laid down the groundwork to mend things between them.

The next point of interest for the Skylander's were the six strange dragons they had recovered from Maraino Castle.

From his friend's descriptions, Spyro understood that the Knights of Solitude they had been fighting had suddenly gone limp mid battle. Thanks to the Skylanders efforts, they had prevented Malefor from devouring the unconscious enemies that had radically changed in their appearance. The previously featureless darkness that covered the creatures was now dispersed and their features revealed for the Skylanders to see.

All of them were indeed dragons, each looking completely different from each other or even from Spyro himself.

Orange Eyes had coppery green scales that turned to a dark brown as they reached his paws. He also had strange blue metallic attachments around his head and wings, the which the Skylanders could not remove.

Brown Eyes was rather erathy in his appearance, not just in color, but also in texture. His dark brown scales were dotted with what looked like small ore nuggets and his horns seemed to be made of rock. A very striking feature was that he had no wings and that he was built differently than the rest of the dragons. His body seemed to intend for him to exclusively walk on all fours, making it difficult to stand on just two legs.

Green Eyes' scales wer of a vibrant green color. His paws however, were all a bright red that contrasted heavily with the rest of his green body. His tail, scales and wing membranes all hand leafy, bushy textures and looked like vegetation. His many thorn-like horns and claws were a bright yellow.

Blue Eyes had an athletic build and smooth, fish-like texture. His underbelly and lower parts of his paws were a clear cyan, that contrasted against the deep, sea blue of the rest of his scales. His webbed paws, horns and tail all had green webbing and the dragon wore a strange golden harness around his chest.

Red Eyes, actually looked a little bird with the shape of a dragon. He was covered in fiery red feathers and had bird-like talons instead of paws that were accompanied by a sharp yellow beak. His eyes were surrounded by a dark blue tinge and some of the feathers on his tail were of a similar color.

Cyan Eyes was the only female among the Knights of Solitude. She had long, thin ears and a striking, white, perfectly smooth horn on the middle of her forehead. Something that called attention was that, instead of scales, Cyan Eyes had soft, sky-blue fur, something quite irregular for a dragon.

All the dragons had remained knocked out since the Skylanders rescued them from Maraino Castle, so it had been impossible for the Skylanders to get any information from them. They had no idea who the dragons were. They didn't even know their names. On Jet-Vac and Spyro's suggestion, the six dragons had been temporarily hospitalized in the Academy nursery while they all regained consciousness. They were also accompanied briefly by Stealth Elf since she had been knocked out by Omen in Maraino Castle, however, she quickly recovered and was ready to return to her Skylander duties as usual, eager to improve and hone her new scarecrow-summoning power.

All this kept the Skylanders quite occupied, but they managed. Pop Fizz had volunteered to keep an eye on the knocked out dragons as everyone else got back to their old routines.

So, that took care of almost everything on Spyro's mind. _Almost_ everything. He still had to talk to someone about something quite important.

Cyrus had stayed on the Academy while the Skylanders sorted out their business. The indigo dragon mostly kept to himself, not disturbing the Skylanders during his stay. He mostly stuck to the thinking spot. The popular one everyone went to when they wanted to ponder deep thoughts. So, Spyro flew over, and luckily enough, as he did, Spyro saw a familiar indigo dragon, looking out toward the horizon.

Spyro touched down gently beside Cyrus, both dragons looked straight ahead, at the endless sky before them.

"What are you going to do?" Spyro asked simply, keeping his eyes on the passing clouds.

Cyrus took a while to answer, but he eventually spoke. "I'm not sure." He responded. "What do you think I should do?" He asked Spyro.

Spyro ran his brother's question through his mind. He thought of all that had happened during this little adventure, of all he and Cyrus, being brothers, had to catch up on. He came up with a simple answer.

"Stay." Spyro said softly, making Cyrus turn his head toward Spyro, a wide-eyed look in his face. "Stay here, you and I make a good team you know? You could even become a Skylander!" Spyro suggested, the words feeling perfectly sound as he spoke them. "Just, stay with me." He added, slowing down his words slightly as he turned his head to look at his brother.

Cyrus stared at Spyro, a dumbfounded look on his face. His eyes were wide and his mouth was hanging slightly as he looked at Spyro, unmoving. He stared at Spyro with this befuddled expression for a couple of moments, remaining completely silent, all while Spyro waited patiently for his answer. After a few moments however, Cyrus returned to his conscience, slowly turning his head back at the horizon.

"I can't." Cyrus said simply, an edge of grief in his voice-

That made Spyro feel something like pain. He winced as his mouth drooped into a sadend frown. "What? What do you mean you can't?" Spyro asked, not understanding why Cyrus would refuse an opportunity like this.

Cyrus let out a long sigh, lowering his gaze to the ground as he did. "I'm not like you, Spyro." Cyrus started. "I'm no hero, I'm no Skylander. What I did back at Maraino Castle doesn't absolve me of all the things I did before. I helped Omen capture those other dragons, I hurt your friends, I hurt _you._ " Cyrus said, his brow furrowing and his eyes drooping slightly. "I can't expect to just be forgiven for all of that. So, I can't stay."

"But, you…" Spyro began, trying to say something convincing. "But you didn't mean to do any of that. It was Omen, he tortured you!" Spyro tried arguing.

"I suppose." Cyrus said weakly. "But… It still does not mean I didn't do those things." He said in a down tone. "Spyro… you know I _want_ to stay don't you?" Cyrus asked in a quiet tone, lifting his gaze back at the horizon and making Spyro flinch with surprise. "I've been alone, so long, I would just love to stay here and waste time with my brother." He said, a low chuckle emanating from his throat. "But… I just can't. This place, this life, I'm not ready for it just yet."

"Then…" Spyro began slowly. "Where will you go?"

Cyrus took a while to answer. The indigo dragon simply kept his gaze on the horizon as he thought of an answer in his mind. While he did, Spyro waited patiently, the only sound that came during the pause Cyrus had created, was the sound of the early morning breeze.

And then, the silence was broken. "I want to go find our parents." Cyrus answered.

Spyro felt his jaw drop. He had not expected that, he had expected everything _except_ that. "What do you mean?" Spyro asked, dumbfounded by Cyrus' answer.

"I figured." Cyrus began slowly. "If anyone can truly forgive me for what I've done… it's them." Cyrus explained. "And who knows…" Cyrus added quickly. "The trip might be fun."

Spyro then said something, something he felt like he truly meant. " _I_ forgive you." Spyro said slowly, his heart starting to ache at the thought of his brother leaving him.

After Spyro's words, Cyrus' eyes went round and his mouth opened slightly taken back completely. Only after a few seconds and swallowing hard was Cyrus able to answer. "Then, come with me." He suggested in a small voice.

"What!?" Spyro suddenly asked.

"Come with me." Cyrus repeated, a little louder this time. "You told me you were already looking for them anyway." He recalled.

Then, everything Spyro had done ever since the idea of finding his ancestors crossed his mind, flashed before his eyes. He was being offered a chance to put his family back together, a chance to get his brother and his parents back, all in one go. It was something he could have never thought was possible to even ask for.

But then, something nagged at Spyro's mind. It made his turn his head around and look behind him. Once he did, he saw the Academy. He saw his friends, he saw his life, every adventure he had ever been on all playing like a videotape in his mind.

And then, something even more powerful called to him. HIs duty. He was a Skylander, a sworn protector of the realm. He couldn't bring himself to abandon that responsibility, it would only be a matter of time before the next Omen, before the next big bad guy, showed up and ruined the day.

"I can't." Spyro said, a small stab of cold piercing his heart. "I'm a Skylander, I can't just walk away from that responsibility. I can't leave my friends behind." He said. not able to bring himself to meet Cyrus' eyes.

"Hah, I was right." Cyrus' voice chuckled behind Spyro, confusing him.

Afterward, Spyro turned around and looked at Cyrus, the indigo dragon was smiling at Spyro, it was a small, kind of sad smile, but still warm. "I told you. You can't look for what you already have." He said, jogging Spyro's memory to the day he and Cyrus were in the purple dragon tomb, where Cyrus had first said those words.

Spyro now realized what Cyrus had meant by that. It might not have been blood what brought them together, but, his family was here, in Skylander Academy.

"Don't worry." Cyrus added, still smiling. "I'll send you a postcard once I find them." Cyrus joked, letting out a short, sad laugh.

At that, something in Spyro made him take a couple of steps forward and stretch out his arms out slowly. Then, Spyro slowly warped his arms behind Cyrus' back and rested his head on his shoulder, hugging him softly. It was a different hug to the one he shared with Cynder. This one was a gentle embrace, careful and slow, carrying little pressure, but still filled with emotion.

Cyrus had remained paralized by the sudden embrace, but after a few seconds, he returned the hug, slowly pulling Spyro into a much tighter embrace, as if he was desperate for the affection, but didn't know how to ask for it.

The two brothers remained in silence for a couple of warm moments which they spent in silence, not breaking the moment they shared.

"Okay, it's getting a little weird." Cyrus said suddenly.

"Yeah, you're right." Spyro agreed.

However, the hug kept on going just for a few more seconds, before both dragons let go of each other.

"Well, I think it's time for me to go." Cyrus said, giving Spyro one last smile.

Spyro gave him a small nod in return, not quite able to create a proper sentence to say goodby to his brother.

"Alright then." Cyrus said, returning Spyro's nod before turning his body toward the open sky, toward the massive drop off the isle he and Spyro were standing on. Cyrus then Spread his wings, raising them over his head, ready to leave.

"Cyrus." Spyro called, making Cyrus wait. "I just want you to know that… you're my family too. If you ever want to come back… I'll be waiting for you." He said, meaning every word entirely.

Cyrus remained still for a couple of moments not answering back immediately. But then, he spoke, in a soft, honest voice. "Thank you… for everything." He said slowly, not facing Spyro.

Afterwards, Cyrus flapped his wings, boosting himself off the ground and shooting up into the air. Spyro could only watch as his brother began to quickly fly away, becoming nothing more than a small indigo dot before his view was blocked by a large passing cloud.

And just like that, Spyro was left alone. His heart was heavy, for he had just had to see his brother leave him. He had no idea of when, of even _if_ he would see Cyrus again and that made him feel like the world simply became a colder place. But then, he remembered why he had allowed for this to happen. He remembered his friends, he remembered the Academy and he remembered Cynder. He couldn't help but smile at the thought to all his dear friends, the thought of all they had yet to do.

And he couldn't' help but think about Cynder. His cheeks reddened slightly as he remembered their kiss on Maraino Castle. He remembered how soft her lips were, how truly gorgeous she was up close.

And then, Spyro realized the old sayings were true. _"Speak of the devil…"_ He tough to himself as he heard a familiar wingbeat. Spyro could feel his heart beat a little faster as he saw Cynder land beside him.

The violet dragoness edged closer to Spyro and rested her head against his shoulder. He allowed this, feeling the dragoness' warmth spread swoly over him.

"He's gone isn't' he?" Cynder asked, caringly.

"Yes." Spyro answered. "But, he's alright." Spyro added, confident in his brother's capabilities and sure he would complete his goal. "And well." Spyro picked up, moving his tail behind him. He felt Cynder gasp sightly as he slowly wrapped his tail around hers. "It's not like I'm going anywhere." He said, closing his eyes as he rested his head gently on Cynder's.

At that, both dragons relaxed, sinking into their tender moment. Spyro felt the pain in his heart from Cyrus' departure slowly be washed away. He didn't forget about his brother, not at all. He was simply overwhelmed by how these small, quiet moments he shared with Cynder seemed to clear his mind, by how much he truly enjoyed being so close to her.

But then, something suddenly interrupted Spyro and Cynder's moment.

"Skylanders!" Master Eon's voice suddenly boomed across the air.

"Ahhhhh!" Spyro and Cynder screamed suddenly, jarred out of their tender embrace by Master Eon's glowing head suddenly popping into existence above them.

"Yes, Master Eon?" Spyro asked behind his teeth, trying to mask his irritation at Eon's unannounced entrance.

"We have an emergency!" Master Eon announced. "Kaossandra has been informed of a large greeble gang raiding a mabu villiange!" He stated.

"Really!?" Cynder asked concerned. "How large a gang are we talking about?" He inquired.

"Assuming these manu aren't exaggerating." Eon began. "It's the biggest raiding party we have seen in a while."

"Then we have no time to waste." Spyro joined in, getting into his heroic mood. "Let' get going Cynder!"

"Right!" Cynder agreed quickly in a merry tone.

"That's the spirit Skylanders!" Eon's floating head followed up. "Non, head to the Portal Gates at once, those dastardly greebles won't defeat themselves." Eon said. However the portal master's head glance do to the side, as if thinking about what he had just said. "They _probably_ won't defeat themselves." He corrected before disappearing with a small popping sound.

At that, Spyro and Cynder began sprinting through the isle, back on their way to the Academy to join their friends. They both then used their wings to boost themselves off the ground, soaring through the ar, side by side.

Spyro smile widely. So much had happened recently, so many things had changed he was relieved that things were finally going back to normal. But at the same time, they weren't completely back to normal.

This whole adventure had caused very significant changes in Spyro's world. He now had a brother, he was now discovering new feelings for Cynder and had six dragons he really wanted to talk to right on Academy grounds.

Yes,the threat of Omen and the Knights of Solitude was finally over, but in his struggle to stop them, Spyro had been changed and he was grateful. He now had a whole new world before him.

"Skylanders forever!" Spyro shouted, laughing as he flew through the skies, overjoyed at the thought of all the new adventures that had just opened up to him.

* * *

 _Author's notes_

 _Well, before we go anywhere, I would just like to apologize fro how long this last chapter took. I had a lot of "other stuff" to do. And I mean, on my defnece, this on is almost twise as long as the rest of them._

 _But now, I just wanted to take a moment to say, I really enjoyed writing this and I an overjoyed you liked it. But now, it's over. Could I make a sequel? Maybe. I do have an idea for a sequel, but that would certainly take a while._

 _Meanwhile, why not leave a review? Not only do I greatly apreciate them, but they help me gage how much you people liked my story and help me improve acordingly. Maybe tell me which caracter did you like most? Was it Cyrus? Omen? Enumat? Did you like how I interpreted one of show's original caracters?_

 _All in all, I really enyoed making this and I trully hope you enjoyed reading it._

Untill next time ;)


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